Sides case backed

Press, 14 May 1981, Page 1

Sides case backed

PA Wellington The Minister of Justice (Mr McLay) has lined up with the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) in support of amending the Human Rights Commission Act so that people such as a Christchurch garage proprietor, Mr Eric Sides, are not prevented from advertising for Christian workers. The Government caucus will today consider changing the act and, in an interview with the Press Association yesterday, Mr McLay indicated that he will strongly advocate amendment. He had been quite concerned for some time about the way in which the Human Rights Commission was working, Mr McLay said. He believed the act was working effectively in regard to its principal objective, which was to remove discrimination against women in the workplace and in the worlds of commerce and trade.

But Mr McLay added: “I have got to say that l am disturbed when it gets into other areas.” The Sides case was a classic example of that, he said.

Mr McLay emphasised that he did not want to see a situation in which people could actively discriminate against others because of their religion.

“I would not like to see advertisements, for example, which state that no Catholics need apply, as used to be the case in the United States only 20 years ago. “That is not to say that a person should be prevented from saying he wants to employ people who adhere to certain types of values in the broad Christian sense.” Mr McLay said he had discussed the act with Mr Muldoon and that his departmental officers were working on several options for amending the Act.

He was not prepared to spell out those options. Mr McLay said the Sides case had highlighted one of the unhappier conseouences of the act.

“I really would have preferred the Human Rights Commission to have concentrated its attention on the more obvious area of concern, that of sex discrimination, and not been diverted into subjects such as the Sides case,” Mr McLay said.