Election 1996

Saturdays election provisional results were National winning 34.13% of the vote and 44 seats, Labour 28.27% of the vote and 37 seats, New Zealand First 13.13% of the vote and 17 seat, Alliance 10.12% of the vote and 13 seats, ACT New Zealand 6.17% of the vote and 8 seats, Christian Coalition 4.35% of the vote and no seats, and United New Zealand 0.91% and one seat .

Of particular interest to the queer community, Chris Carter, Labour gay MP, lost WAIPAREIRA by 141 votes on the provisional count on election night to Brian Neeson. Brian Neeson, National MP, is conservative and had the honour of the Christian Coalition not standing a candidate as they considered him to be of sufficient moral standing.

Tim Barnett, Labour gay candidate, won Christchurch Central as expected. Other out gay candidates, Mick Ozimek, Labour and Alliances, Trevor Barnard, Richard Davies and Vernon Tile were not elected as expected.

Of some concern must be the additional of Owen Jennings, ACT, to parliament who earlier this year attacked Pharmac over approving the public funding of new HIV treatments. Also the presence of eight ACT MPs may put some additional pressure on the Human Rights Commission who ACT would like to abolish. There presence will however be offset by the 13 Alliance MPs.

On a positive note for the gay community the loss of the four Maori seats to NZ First removed two opponents of the gay community from the Labour party and allowed them to be replaced by more liberal MPs from the Labour list. However this result in the case of Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan, Labour candidate for Te Tai Tonga, may be overturned.

Of some concern still must be that the Christian Coalition managed to obtain 4.35 percent of the party vote and only just missed the five percent freshold. They blamed the homosexual community in general for their loss but came under increasing attack from various sectors within the country not the least been the National Party who were concerned that an association with the Coalition might scare the urban liberal voter away from National.

John Jamieson, Christian Coalition candidate, has said that he will sue express newspaper and Eugene Moore, for the alleging that Mr Jamieson said that "hanging was too good for gays".

The Christian Coalition achieved its best vote in the rural, provincial and working class electorates while ACT achieved its best results in the urban, professional electorates. However neither of these parties vote was significant in the Maori seats or those in areas where Maori and Pacific Island people are a significant proportion of the population.

As no party obtained a clear majority in this New Zealand’s first MMP election it is not yet known who will be able to form a government. It is expected that an indication of the direction will be known by the end of the month but is dependent upon the direction chosen by New Zealand First.

Pride Centre

For two long weeks the 200 members of the Auckland Pride Centre waited for an official announcement from the Pride Centre Board on the events surrounding the redundancy of Rosemary Segedin, Pride Centre Manager part time, and the interim appointment of Dave Hookway, Pride Centre Trustee and recently resigned NZ AIDS Foundation employee, to the new position of Executive Director, full time, for the next three months.

In the October newsletter Sandy Gauntlet, Pride Centre Trustee, said that the Board had over recent months realised that part time management was proving inadequate in terms of the meet the boards required financial and management practices.

This was news to most members as at the recent AGM in August the annual report represented by the Pride Centre Board gave no indication of any need to change and in fact indicated that a number of improvements had occurred in the previous 12 months. In the report also Ms Segedin indicated that she had no intention of leaving and would be staying for another year at least in the current position.

Claire Gummer, Express Newspaper journalist, attempted to contact Pride Centre managers 18 times before their deadline but failed to get any comments except from Simon Nimmo, Pride Centre Trustee, who was alleged to have threatened to sue Express.

A number of members have protested the Pride Centre’s actions including Philip Patston, Pride Centre Trustee on leave, resigning. Mr Patston said that he was concerned about fundamental changes been made by the Board at their first meeting after the AGM. Five volunteers have also resigned from the Board and other members are considering taking further action.

In a written response to requests for further information on why members were not informed of the proposed changes Mr Gauntlett ignored this question and explained why the centre could not advise members of Ms Segedin’s redundancy. He went on to say that he was "unaware of the need for restructuring until the first meeting of the Board". This first meeting of the new board occurred in August, followed by a meeting in September where it appears the final decision was made in a period of less than two months.

When asked why members were not consulted about this restructuring Mr Gauntlett commented that "members are allowed input at any stage during any process by attending Board meetings and putting forward concerns that they have."

However in its October newsletter the Pride Centre published its next meeting date as 16 October but failed to mention the time for this meeting as it did for its November meeting.

Gay TV and Radio

Out There every Tuesday 10.00pm on ATV, Capital City, Coast to Coast, Southern and CTV. and repeated on TV One, Saturday 12.30am

City Life, TV2, Monday 7:30pm.
Shortland St, TV2, Monday to Friday 7pm.
Topless Women Talk About Their Lives, TV3, Friday 11.00pm - Watch for the guest appearances of Buckwheat and Bertha in certain episodes.

Radio

Regular gay and lesbian shows

Auckland - G & T Show, 810AM Access Radio, Thursday 7 to 8am
Auckland - This Way Out, 810AM Access Radio, Saturday 11:40am
Auckland - In The Pink, 95BFM Student Radio, Sunday 8 to 9pm
Auckland - Girls Own Show, 95BFM Student Radio, Sunday 7 to 8pm
Hamilton - Different Strokes, Contact 89FM, Sunday 6 to 8pm
Wellington - Gay BC, 783AM Access Radio, Gay BC, Saturdays 11:15 - 12:15
Wellington - Reading Lesbian Writers, 783AM Access Radio,Saturdays, 1.00 - 1.15
Wellington - Lesbian Radio Programme, 783AM Access Radio,Sundays, 10 - 11 am
Wellington - Boy Trouble, 89FM Student Radio, Sunday 6-7pm
Top of the South - Dyke FM, 99.4FM Fresh FM, Sunday 10am
Top of the South - Gaytime FM, 99.4FM Fresh FM, Sunday 11am
Christchurch - RDU 98.3FM Student Radio, has no specific queer show but does have queer news, play queer artists and all the rest as part of their daily programme.
Christchurch - Outwaves, Plains, 96.9FM , Monday 8pm
Christchurch - Lesbians on Air, Plains 96.9FM Monday 9.30 - 10pm (note 9-9.30pm from 18th March)
Dunedin -Dykes on Mikes, 91FM Radio One, Tuesday 8pm
Dunedin -Tea with the Boys, 91FM Radio One, Sundays 9-10pm

Reviews

None this week

Events - Upcoming

Auckland Community Church - Every Sunday 8pm
Auckland Metropolitan Church - Every Sunday 7.30pm
Auckland Gay Bowling Association - Every Sunday 5pm
Auckland Gay Space DKD - Every Sunday 4-6pm
Team Auckland Runners - Every Sunday 10am
Team Auckland Swimmers - Every Tuesday and Thursday 8pm, Saturday 10am
Te Waka Awhina Takatapui Kapa Haka - Every Tuesday 7pm.
Auckland Lesbian Support Group - Every Thursday 7pm
Auckland Womens Social Drop in - Every Friday 7pm
Auckland Uni Gays - Every Friday 5pm
Auckland AA Aquarius Group - Every Tuesday 7.30pm
Hamilton Gaylink dropin - Every Wednesday 8pm

Wellington Lesbian Library (LILAC) - Every Wednesday 6-8pm, Saturdays noon - 3pm

Nelson Spectrum - Every Thursday 7.30pm

Akaroa Lesbian and Gay Group meets every 3rd Saturday.

Dunedin Gay Affirmers Service - Every Sunday
Dunedin lesbian indoor cricket team - Every Sunday
Dunedin Queerspace - Every Thursday 8pm
Dunedin Beyond the Closet - Every Monday 1pm

Events - Previews

None this week

Gay Switchboards and information lines

What is happening on the Internet

It is now one year since this QNA was established and in general it has appeared weekly. In practical terms it was not produced for the past two weeks as a consequence of the general election and the additional effort required to maintain information in that area. Remember if you have any news or events to pass them onto the list for inclusion in the next issue. Also if you would like to see some change in direction or new features please feel free to comment.

Copyright, Subscription and Contribution information

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