Parliament has voted unanimously to support legislation allowing men convicted of historical homosexual offences to have them wiped from their records.
Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
Consensual sex between men aged 16 and over was decriminalised in 1986, but convictions for offences before that time remained on record and can appear in criminal history checks.
The bill was introduced by the former National-led government and picked up by the current government.
The scheme will allow people to apply to the Secretary of Justice to have their convictions expunged, without formal court hearings or needing to appear in person.
During previous debate of the bill, Labour's Grant Robertson told the house that the imprisonments, the arrests and the fear did not just ruin lives, it killed people.
"Hundreds, possibly thousands of lives have been lost because men could not bear the shame, the stigma and the hurt caused by this Parliament and the way that society viewed them as criminals."
Today the Criminal Records (expungement of convictions for historical homosexual offences) Bill has passed its third reading.
— Andrew Little (@AndrewLittleMP) April 3, 2018
Today we are sorry ❤️❤️✨ pic.twitter.com/dHog5uwHou
