PM: Rainbow is for all govt

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has dashed a Green MP’s hopes of a so-called ‘‘Rainbow Ministry’’.

The response came yesterday after Green rainbow issues spokesperson Jan Logie floated the idea last week.

Speaking at the Wellington Pride Festival launch, Logie said she thought a rainbow ministry, department, office or agency was a ‘‘good idea’’.

But Ardern said the responsibility for addressing the issues of the LGBTQIA+ community was government-wide.

It was not ‘‘best pursued’’ by setting up an agency, ministry or department.

‘‘I think actually the responsibility for some of the issues we need to pursue exists within the Ministry of Justice, within the Department of Internal Affairs, within Education, within Health.

‘‘I wouldn’t want there to be a sense that that responsibility didn’t sit across government simply by having one agency to assume, or be seen to assume, responsibility,’’ Ardern said.

Logie said there were already specialist representative organisations advising government on issues affecting demographics such as women, Ma¯ori, Pacific peoples and seniors.

‘‘We need a plan to ensure our rainbow communities have a say in the decisions that affect our lives, and that our interests and needs are considered in policy, in practice, and in the Budget,’’ Logie said.

‘‘What’s important to me is not the specific mechanism – it’s that we have effective representation and input for LGBTIQ+ people and families in government decision-making.’’

She said the Government needed to be able to access the expertise of the rainbow community, and its groups needed to have a point of contact in government to go to for help and advice. The Dominion Post’s special masthead is to welcome all to the Wellington International Pride Festival, which runs until March 24, and the 2019 International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association conference, being held at the Michael Fowler Centre from March 18 to 22.