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New Zealand
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New Zealand party pushes for ‘biological’ definition of men, women

The populist New Zealand First Party, which forms part of the country’s governing coalition, introduced the bill to parliament on Tuesday

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New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters shakes hands with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington last month. Peters leads the New Zealand First party. Photo: Reuters
Agence France-Presse
A populist party in New Zealand’s governing coalition on Tuesday proposed a law to enforce a biological definition of men and women, condemning the existing “woke ideology” of “cancerous social engineering”.

The New Zealand First Party – which has campaigned to ban transgender women from using women’s toilets or taking part in women’s sports – said it had lodged the draft legislation in parliament.

It launched its bid barely a week after Britain’s Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on a person’s sex at birth.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, who leads the party, said events at home and internationally showed “the pendulum is swinging back towards common sense and proving us right”.

The bill defines a woman as an “adult human biological female” and a man as an “adult human biological male”.

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It would move the country away from “woke ideology” that had undermined the protection and safety of women, Peters said in a statement.

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