Australians flock to NZ for gay marriage

More than a quarter of same-sex marriages in New Zealand since it became legal in August have been of Australian couples.

gay_marriage

(Getty)

New Zealand's big gay rainbow has clearly stretched to Australia.

Since the law allowing same-sex marriage came into effect in New Zealand in August, 97 of the 361 couples to have tied the knot are Australian, or about 26 per cent.

Of the Australians, 47 were female couples and 50 were male couples.

There have also been 10 Chinese couples, four from Hong Kong, four from Britain and four from Thailand, Department of Internal Affairs statistics released on Friday show.

"We are seeing continued national and international interest by same sex couples in getting married in New Zealand," Births, Deaths and Marriages registrar-general Jeff Montgomery said.

Australian couples have been getting married in New Zealand while gay marriage remains illegal in Australia.

The figures show 195 all-female couples have been married between August 19 and December 19, along with 166 all-male couples.

Of those, 55 female couples and 47 male couples were previously in a civil union.

Same-sex marriage legislation was passed by parliament in April.

A speech in support by government minister Maurice Williamson, in which he refuted claims that gay marriage was causing a drought by saying there was a "big gay rainbow" across his constituency on the day of the vote, was later named New Zealand's quote of the year.


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Source: AAP


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