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 results in seek to deregister Family First as a Charity AUCKLAND, New Zealand , – Three weeks after the passage of homosexual ‘marriage’ in New Zealand, a pro-family group has been stripped of charitable status .  Family First New Zealand , a charity which speaks up for families, and holds a traditional view of marriage and family, have received notice from the independent Charities Registration Board that they will be removed from the Charities Register on May 27 th . During the same-sex ‘marriage’ debate prior to the April 17 passage of the Marriage ( Definition of Marriage ) Amendment Bill, Family First was a major force in educating and mobilising the public to stand up for marriage being between one man and one woman.  According to Bob McCoskrie, the National Director of Family First, the Charities Registration Board cited that view as one of the reasons for the deregistration. Brendon Ward, the General Manager of Charities Services, said “Family First’s main purpose

Charities Commission (New Zealand) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Green Party is calling for a public debate about how charities are defined after a decision to remove Family First 's charitable status . The Charities Registration Board has ruled that Family First's main purpose is political, rather than charitable, and that it will lose its charitable status unless it appeals to the High Court by May 27. Family First director Bob McCoskrie said the organisation was being penalised for its leading role in the campaign against legalising gay marriage, which was passed by Parliament on April 17. "This is a highly politicised decision which is grim evidence that groups that think differently to the prevailing politically correct view will be targeted in an attempt to shut them up," he said. Ironically, the Greens, whose MPs voted unanimously in support of gay marriage, were the only party to speak up for Family First yesterday. Green MP Denise Roche , wh

Public opposition to same-sex marriage has grown significantly since a law change to legalise it came before Parliament , a Herald DigiPoll survey shows. Same-sex marriage campaigners blame scaremongering by religious groups for the increase in opposition, saying lobbying has intensified as the bill progresses through Parliament.  Opponents of gay marriage say the jump shows people are waking up to the negative social effects of changing the Marriage Act. Asked what best fitted their view on marriage law, 48 per cent of those polled said marriage should remain between a man and a woman – an increase of 7.5 percentage points from a poll last June. The number of people who supported a law change to allow same-sex couples to marry fell 4 percentage points in that time, but still outnumbered the opponents by a small margin. The Marriage Amendment Bill is expected to return to Parliament tomorrow for the committee stages after easily passing its second reading by 77 votes to 4

Family First survey shows turnaround in level of approval for same-sex couples marrying . The Family First lobby group has published a poll which finally concedes what all other polls in the past year have shown - that more New Zealanders now support gay marriage than oppose it. The poll of 1000 people by blogger David Farrar 's Curia Research has found 47 per cent think same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, against 43 per cent who think "civil unions are sufficient for same-sex couples". It comes as a select committee is due to report back to Parliament this Thursday on Labour MP Louisa Wall 's bill that would define marriage as "the union of two people regardless of their sex, sexual orientation or gender identity". The committee is expected to recommend amending the bill to clarify that celebrants in churches or other religious bodies would not have to marry gay couples if they believe it is wrong. But human rights law, which bans discriminat

A prominent Timaru priest has said he could never marry a gay couple. If he did, he feared he might face excommunication from the church. Sacred Heart Basilica parish priest Father Peter Costello was reacting to the news that Louisa Wall's Marriage Amendment Bill had passed its first reading in Parliament. Opinions have been divided over the consequences for clergy if the bill comes into law. Family First-commissioned expert Ian Bassett said earlier in the week that if passed into law, clergy who refused to marry same-sex couples could be criminalised. But the Human Rights Commission has said churches will still be allowed to refuse to marry anyone, including same-sex couples, without legal ramifications. Father Costello hopes he will be able to refuse gay marriages. "It is never a universal human right to be married," he said. "The [Catholic] church would say that love and friendship exist for everyone, but only the bond between a male and a female is recognised in

A website dedicated to opposing gay marriage has been removed from the internet the day it was launched after it was the target of one of the "largest unprecedented attacks" on a website in New Zealand . The "Protect Marriage" website, launched today by Family First , crashed in a matter of hours as a result of a "large-scale denial of service attack" according to the site's webhost . It was back up and running at 1pm, but had been removed completely by the webhosting company later this afternoon, to "protect its own servers". "Due to large scale Denial of Service attacks against this domain it has been decided to ensure the stability and security of our servers and network, this account has been removed," said a message from 24/7 Hosting. Launched to oppose MP Louisa Wall 's same-sex marriage bill drawn recently from the ballot, Family First director Bob McCroskrie said the site was apparently the target of "the large