Latest Submissions
When appropriate, the NZARH responds to requests for submissions on bills that are relevant to the rights of the non-religious section of New Zealand society. We hope through our work to bring a reasoned, rational and secular voice to bear on these important decisions that our government makes on behalf of all of us, and we hope that we can help to ensure that those who make legislation keep it fair for all New Zealanders, without favouring those with any particular religious beliefs. Our past submissions on various Select Committee consultations can be read below.
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Humanist NZ’s views on the Ministry of Justice’s discussion document “Proposals against incitement of hatred and discrimination”
This response is from the Humanist Society of NZ (Humanist NZ), a secular organisation with an interest in Human Rights with a particular emphasis on the rights of non-religious people. The Ministry of Justice is considering changes to legislation in response to the report from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack at Christchurch masjidain on 15 March 2019. It is seeking…
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Proposals against incitement of hatred and discrimination in Aotearoa New Zealand
Introduction Overall, we consider the proposed legislation changes to be positive, and believe that they will help to protect many vulnerable groups in New Zealand. Proposal 1: We agree that broadening the hate speech provisions to new groups will afford these groups better protection, but non-religious or ethical beliefs should be included as a protected group Proposal Two: We support replacing the existing wording…
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Submission to the Health Select Committee currently considering the Crimes (Definition of Female Genital Mutilation) Amendment Bill
In January we made a submission in support of the Crimes (Definition of Female Genital Mutilation) Amendment Bill. We also proposed that an obligation be imposed upon all medical practitioners to provide relevant details to their local Medical Officers of Health whenever, in their daily practice, they observe a case where FGM has been performed on patients who were born in New Zealand on or…
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Our oral submission on the Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill
On Thursday 14 November we appeared before the Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Trade select committee with our submission on the Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill. Our oral submission was supported by Gulalai Ismail, a Pashtun human rights activist who fled Pakistan after a First Information Report was raised by the Pakistani police, accusing her of an “anti-state and hate speech” for drawing attention to the stories of…
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Submission to MoE on Religious Instruction
Overview In general terms, the document does a good job of trying to bring potential issues with offering religious instruction to the attention of schools. These issues are both legal and ethical, and it is important that the focus of this document is kept on the rights and wellbeing of the children. We would like to see more weight given to the precautionary principle…
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Religious Instruction Guidelines
We thank the Ministry of Education for preparing new guidelines which aim to address the concerns of parents and children who experience discrimination in New Zealand schools as a result of religious instruction practices. Overall the draft guidelines are substantively excellent within the current legal context. We broadly agree with the content and have some suggestions for improvements. Why guidelines on religious instruction? The…
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David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill
Who are the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists? The objects of the NZARH are: Our organisation speaks in support of human rights, including freedom of belief and freedom of speech. Formed in 1927 we came to prominence by defending the rights of non religious parents in state schools. During the Second World War, the Association campaigned for the civil liberties of the…
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Abortion and Euthanasia
The Humanist Society of New Zealand is currently finalizing a manifesto ahead of the upcoming political elections in September. There are many things worth lobbying for, but two that are being focused on are changing the laws around Abortion and Euthanasia. The first thing the word Abortion brings to my mind is the big red “Abort – Abort Stage” buttons on the console in the Lunar…
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Petition of Hon Maryan Street Regarding End of Life Choices
Who are the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists? The objects of the NZARH are: Our organisation speaks in support of human rights, including freedom of belief and freedom of speech. Formed in 1927 we came to prominence by defending the rights of non religious parents in state schools. During the Second World War, the Association campaigned for the civil liberties of the…
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Submission on Updating the Education Act 1989
Our Society adheres to the fundamentals of modern Humanism as expressed in the Amsterdam Declaration of 2002, in which Article 4 states: Humanism insists that personal liberty must be combined with social responsibility. Humanism ventures to build a world on the idea of the free person responsible to society, and recognises our dependence on and responsibility for the natural world. Humanism is undogmatic, imposing…
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Updating the Education Act 1989
Who are the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists? The objects of the NZARH are: Our organisation is one which speaks in support of human rights, including freedom of belief and freedom of speech. Our organisation was formed in 1927. The Association came to prominence by defending the rights of non religious parents in state schools. During the Second World War, the Association…
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Submission the the Constitutional Commission
The NZARH strongly believes that government should be secular, neither recognising nor funding religion or other non-religious belief. We do not address individual issues arising from the Treaty of Waitangi. We note the New Zealand Human Rights Committee statement that ‘Articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty of Waitangi both provide protection for Maori to observe and practise their religions and beliefs.’ We believe…