 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2022) |
| Rainbow Labour | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Headquarters | Wellington, New Zealand |
| Ideology | Social democracy LGBT rights |
| Mother party | New Zealand Labour Party |
Rainbow Labour is the LGBT+ sector of the New Zealand Labour Party.
Rainbow Labour began as a branch within Chris Carter's Auckland Waipareira electorate on 17 March 1997 following his narrow defeat in the election the previous year.[ citation needed ] That same year, Tim Barnett, newly elected to Parliament as an openly gay man, established a Rainbow Special Branch in Christchurch on 3 October 1997.[ citation needed ] During the next few years the branches expanded in size, with the Auckland branch becoming one of the largest in the Labour Party.[ citation needed ] This led to the formation of a Rainbow Sector within the Labour Party, which gave the branches a nationwide focus and co-ordinating body. In 2004, at a vote at the Party's Annual Conference, Rainbow Labour was invited to nominate candidates for a permanent representative position elected from the floor of Conference, on the Party's controlling body, the New Zealand Council.[ citation needed ]
Rainbow Members of Parliament (MPs) work closely with Rainbow Labour, and has included gay men Chris Carter, Tim Barnett, and lesbian MP Maryan Street, and transgender MP Georgina Beyer. During 2006 Charles Chauvel became an MP when a vacancy arose; similarly Louisa Wall entered Parliament in 2008 following a resignation (although she was not re-elected at the general election later that year), and Grant Robertson was elected as the MP for Wellington Central in 2008. Louisa Wall re-entered Parliament on the resignation of Darren Hughes in 2011, and left in 2022. [1] Current[ when? ] MPs in Rainbow Caucus also include Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall, Hon Meka Whaitiri, Hon Kiri Allan, Tāmati Coffey, Shanan Halbert, and Glen Bennett.[ citation needed ]
Issues Rainbow Labour has advanced within the Labour Party have included relationship property reform, human rights reforms, the Civil Union Act, which was passed in 2004, and the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill which passed in April 2013 and was brought to Parliament via a Members Bill under Louisa Wall's name.[ citation needed ]
On 15 February 2022, the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill passed its third and final reading. The Bill was brought to Parliament as a result of a joint petition presented by Young Greens and Young Labour on 14 August 2018. [2] That petition initially resulted in a Members Bill placed in the ballot by Labour MP Marja Lubeck. [3] Rainbow Labour submitted evidence in support of the legislation at the Select Committee process. [4]
In elections since 1999, the Labour Party has published pamphlets advertising Labour's LGBTQIA+ candidates. This is thought to be a world first by a mainstream national political party.[ by whom? ] The Party later began including rainbow policies in its manifesto, which in 2020, included banning conversion therapy, better access, support and treatment through the health system, more funding for rainbow mental health services, and creating more inclusive school and work environments. [5]
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, commonly known as the Greens, is a green and left-wing political party in New Zealand. Like many green parties around the world, it has four organisational pillars. The party's ideology combines environmentalism with left-wing and social-democratic economic policies, including well-funded and locally controlled public services within the confines of a steady-state economy. Internationally, it is affiliated with the Global Greens.
The New Zealand Young Nationals, more commonly called the Young Nats, is the youth wing of the National Party, a centre-right political party in New Zealand, and a member of the International Young Democrat Union.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in New Zealand are some of the most extensive in the world. The protection of LGBT rights is advanced, relative to other countries in Oceania, and among the most liberal in the world, with the country being the first in the region and thirteenth in the world to enact same-sex marriage.
Young Labour is the combined youth wing and student wing of the New Zealand Labour Party. It hosts an annual conference and holds a range of additional national events, including fringe sessions at the Labour Party's annual conference. All Labour Party members aged between 15 and 29 years old are members of Young Labour.
Louisa Hareruia Wall is a former New Zealand Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 2011 to 2022. She has represented New Zealand in both netball as a Silver Fern and rugby union as a member of the Black Ferns. In late March 2022, Wall announced that she would resign from Parliament.
Kevin Grant Hague is a New Zealand activist and former chief executive and politician. He was a Member of Parliament for the Green Party from 2008 to 2016, and served as chief executive of Forest & Bird, an independent New Zealand conservation organisation, from October 2016 to April 2022. In July 2022 he became a volunteer Civil Defence and Emergency Management controller for the West Coast.
Carmel Jean Sepuloni is a New Zealand politician and a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party who has been the deputy prime minister of New Zealand since 25 January 2023. She was first elected to Parliament following the 2008 general election as a list member, becoming New Zealand's first MP of Tongan descent.
Eugenie Meryl Sage is a New Zealand politician and environmentalist. Since the 2011 election, she has been a Green Party list MP in the House of Representatives and served as the Minister of Conservation and Land Information and the Associate Minister for the Environment from 2017 to 2020.
Gareth Thomas Llewelyn Hughes is a New Zealand politician and member of the Green Party. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for eleven years, from 2010 to 2020. He first took a seat part way through the 49th Parliament as the next person on the Green party list following the retirement of Jeanette Fitzsimons in February 2010. He did not stand for re-election in the 2020 general election.
Kristopher John Faafoi is a former New Zealand Labour Party politician. He became the Member of Parliament for the Mana electorate in 2010. He did not contest the seat as an electorate MP in 2020 but continued as a list MP. He held a number of ministerial portfolios in the Sixth Labour Government from 2017, until he announced his retirement from politics in June 2022.
Simon David O'Connor is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He is a member of the National Party. He has represented the Tāmaki electorate since 2011. He is a member of the Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Trade committee.
Shane Raymond Reti is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, first elected at the 2014 general election. He is a member of the New Zealand National Party and served as its deputy leader from 10 November 2020 to 30 November 2021 including a period of five days as interim leader following the ousting of Judith Collins.
Matthew Maurice Doocey is a New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand Parliament at the 2014 general election as a representative of the New Zealand National Party. He was re-elected in 2017 with a majority increase of over 10,000 which was a significant increase from a majority of 2,500 in 2014. It was reported that this was the largest personal vote increase in the country.
Simeon Peter Brown is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party.
The 52nd New Zealand Parliament was a meeting of the legislature in New Zealand, which opened on 7 November 2017 following the 2017 general election and dissolved on 6 September 2020. The New Zealand Parliament comprises the Sovereign and the House of Representatives, which consists of 120 members.
Maria Josina Elisabeth "Marja" Lubeck is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party.
Lemauga Lydia Sosene is a New Zealand Labour Party politician. She has been a member of the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local board since the October 2010 local elections and became a Member of Parliament in 2022, succeeding Louisa Wall.
The 53rd New Zealand Parliament is the current meeting of Parliament in New Zealand. It opened on 25 November 2020 following the 17 October 2020 general election, and will expire on or before 20 November 2023 to trigger the next election. It consists of 120 members of Parliament (MPs) with five parties represented: the Labour and Green parties, in government, and the National, Māori and ACT parties, in opposition. The Sixth Labour Government has a majority in this Parliament. Jacinda Ardern continued as prime minister until her resignation on 25 January 2022; she was succeeded by Chris Hipkins.
The Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act 2022 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand that bans conversion therapy practices that seek to change or suppress a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. The Bill passed its third and final reading on 15 February, receiving royal assent on 18 February 2022.
Shaneel Shavneel Lal is a Fijian-New Zealand LGBT rights activist, known for spearheading the movement to ban conversion therapy in New Zealand. Lal made history in 2023 by becoming the first transgender person to win an award at the New Zealander of the Year Awards since its inception in 2010. Lal is a model, a columnist for New Zealand Herald, and a political commentator. Lal is a trustee of Adhikaar Aotearoa, a non-profit that provides education, support and advocacy for queer South Asians. Lal has served as an executive board member of RainbowYOUTH and Auckland Pride Festival.