| abstract | - New Zealand does not allow same-sex marriage, but allows civil unions that provide virtually all the rights and responsibilities of marriage but there are no obstacles to eventual reform such as statutory prohibitions against same-sex marriage. On immigration to New Zealand, couples that have same-sex marriages from countries that allow them may have their marriages recognised as a de facto partnership, but only specific forms of overseas registered partnerships are recognised as the legal equivalent of a New Zealand civil union. As of 2005, this only concerns registered partnerships from Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom and the US states of Vermont and New Jersey.[1] Adoptions by same-sex couples are also not legal, although debate continues about eventual legislative reform in this area. During the 2005 election, Prime Minister Helen Clark admitted that she thought it was discriminatory to exclude same-sex couples from the Marriage Act 1955, but said she would not push to change it.[2] On July 2,2007, George Ireland of Auckland's Milne Ireland Walker legal firm was asked for his opinion on current matters related to same-sex marriage in Sweden, which may result in LGBT access to fully fledged marriage as opposed to the parallel spousal rights and responsibilities legislation that allows for civil unions, which have existed there since the early nineties. He suggested that given the New Zealand Labour Party-led government's strong record on rights for LGBT New Zealanders, such change would probably occur. Destiny New Zealand party president Richard Lewis agreed, from a negative and social conservative perspective.
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