Due to the live nature of Tonight, we apologise for the lack of captions for some items. Tonight, a bill to legalise gay marriage makes some religious and conservative groups very unhappy. He's losing his patience ` insurance companies are told to get on with sorting out quake damage claims. And he only wanted to go to the toilet ` find out how this boy ended up on a flight to Rome. Religious and conservative groups are vowing to oppose a bill to legalise gay marriage. If passed, it'll give gay people the same rights as heterosexual couples and opens the door to adoption. But it's set to spark a fiery debate among MPs, as Arrun Soma reports. Des Smith and John Joliff made history when they became NZ's first gay couple to celebrate a civil union. And this is what NZ should be about ` cherishing equality. The Marriage Amendment Bill is, they say, another step forward. The bill recognises marriage of same-sex, transgender and intersex couples, giving them the same rights as heterosexuals. And that would then pave the way for joint adoption by those couples. It's going to be much easier for young gay people, those who realise they are gay early in life, that they are equal; they are not marginalised. The bill was drawn up by Labour MP Louisa Wall. I feel like a champion for ordinary NZers who love each other, who want to marry. A June ONE News Colmar Brunton poll revealed nearly two-thirds of people support same-sex marriage. Others feel it undermines society as we know it. Marriage and family is under tremendous strain today, and when you get the whole thing more and more blurred, as this will be a blurring, I think it actually does weaken marriage for society. Conservative organisation Family First also opposes this bill. It says it'll lobby politicians to vote against it and is happy to debate this issue, saying, 'Bring it on.' Des and John say bring on another wedding. We have jokingly said that we will have a wonderful civil union divorce party, and then followed by that, we'd have the most wonderful wedding. (LAUGHS) Perhaps pioneers once again. Their next ceremony, though, is in the hands of the country's lawmakers. Arrun Soma, ONE News. Later on, we'll tell you about the uproar in America over the remarks made by the head of a fast-food chain about gay marriage. Another hotly debated bill is one on extending paid parental leave. It passed the first stage by only one vote. But the debate was overshadowed when a former TV and radio presenter sniped at a Labour rival's lack of children. Political reporter Jessica Mutch has more. 26 babies gathering at Parliament today, representing the 26 weeks of paid parental leave that Labour's fighting for. But the debate got personal, with National's Maggie Barry yelling out during Jacinda Ardern's speech. The microphone picks up what she says. And that is key to our vis` our vision. She goes on to ask if Jacinda Ardern is qualified to comment, considering the 32-year-old MP doesn't have children. I didn't think it was a necessary comment to make. I mean, constantly in the House, MPs are talking about issues that we haven't had direct experience of, um, but we're elected, uh, to do that job. We went to the Minister of Women's Affairs. I-I believe, i-in the spirit of debate, comments get made. And, um, if you really want to ask Maggie about her intentions, you should talk to Maggie. We tried to talk to Maggie Barry, but she refused to front up, saying she's moving on. I think they were really insulting. I'd say to, uh, everybody in the House to harden up. Similar comments were made about Helen Clark in 2001. Labelled me as a childless woman and continued personal attacks ` it has been pretty grubby. Despite this stoush, the bill has passed its first stage by one vote. But it looks unlikely to become law, because the Government is vowing to veto the bill, saying the country just can't afford it. Some mums are calling for the Government to change its mind. Life's really hard, so just let it pass for the parents' sake, the babies, the kids, our future. Life's really hard, so just let it pass for the parents' sake, the babies, the kids, our future. The bill will now be scrutinised by a parliamentary committee. The bill's sponsor says she's willing to compromise, and anything extra would be a bonus. Jessica Mutch, ONE News. The Prime Minister's facing calls to sack John Banks as a minister. That's despite a police decision not to prosecute him over anonymous donations to his Auckland mayoralty campaign. This from political reporter Michael Parkin. It was John Banks' mantra throughout the anonymous-donations saga. I have nothing to fear and nothing to hide. Except the ACT leader seemed to be hiding today ` not in Parliament and not at his Epsom electorate office, even though police say they don't have enough evidence to prosecute him over Auckland mayoralty campaign donations. Labour says Mr Banks got off on a technicality, as police found that during his campaign he received a sealed envelope containing a $15,000 cheque from the SkyCity CEO. He made a personal request for help from a donor that led to $15,000 for radio advertising. And police say he personally solicited a donation from Kim Dotcom, resulting in two $25,000 cheques. All were recorded as anonymous donations. Did you know that Kim Dotcom was making a donation to your mayoral campaign? No, I didn't know. And police couldn't establish that Mr Banks knew his staff were recording the donations as anonymous. Also, police can't prosecute, because the complaint wasn't made within six months of Mr Banks' submitting his electoral return. The police can't prove it, but everybody in NZ knows what's gone on here. And John Key knows as well, and he should stand him down. His ethical standards, I think, are in tatters. But the support of the lone ACT MP ensures John Key's one-seat majority here at Parliament, so there is little chance he will stand John Banks down now there's no chance of a prosecution. What we've seen today is the result of a very politically motivated complaint by the Labour Party, and the Minister's been proved to be correct. So police and the Prime Minister may be off John Banks' case, but the Opposition certainly won't be when he comes back to work. Michael Parkin, ONE News. One person's died and another is injured after a truck accident in Christchurch. Emergency services say the man died at the scene on Richardson Terrace in the suburb of Woolston. Police say two drainage trucks were backed up to each other and were pumping out drains under the road when one of the trucks rolled back, trapping two workers. Insurance companies are being told to step up and take responsibility for their part in the rebuilding of Christchurch. The pressure's coming as a report's released assessing the extent of the quake damage Ali Pugh reports. EQC's just released the largest land-damage mapping exercise ever undertaken. A team of 400 engineers went house to house to about 80,000 properties to record damage. With the findings now in the hands of insurers, the recovery minister says there's no excuse for insurance companies to use land reports as a way to buy time. As of today, that information is all there in front of them. But I think it would be wrong to say that they haven't had a big lot of the information on the way through. With drilling for TC3 ` or blue-green ` sections also underway, both the Minister and EQC say it's insurers slowing down the settlement of claims. I've lost my patience for understanding their difficulty. 20,000 Canterbury homes have now had substantial repairs completed by the EQC, costing around $500m, but it stated confidently today its money is not about to run dry. With $3b sitting in its bank account, there's another $4b it can draw on from reinsurance funds, and an additional $1b available from the Crown guarantee. EQC is far from broke. That bank balance is little consolation to those still awaiting answers. They're planning a protest to compete with the unveiling of CERA's history-making blueprint for the new business district on Monday. Ali Pugh, ONE News. A fisherman and his Greenpeace supporters are celebrating tonight after a judge threw out charges against him over an oil protest. But a top maritime lawyer says the ruling sets a dangerous precedent. Amy Kelley has the details. We've got to savour this moment. Scenes of jubilation outside court as fisherman Elvis Teddy walks free. I'm going back to work. I got a crayfishing job to do. ALL LAUGH Teddy faced charges of operating his vessel unsafely and resisting arrest during a flotilla protest against Petrobras oil drilling in the Raukumara Basin. This video shows his boat riding dangerously close to the oil giant's. Teddy's lawyer argued the courts had no jurisdiction because it happened outside NZ's 12-nautical-mile zone. And today the judge agreed. Mr Teddy, uh, you are now free to go. Thank you, Judge. In statements to ONE News, Greenpeace and local iwi say the decision proves police and the navy had no right to curb the protest and were acting as private security for Petrobras. A leading maritime lawyer disagrees and says throwing out this case sets a dangerous precedent. It does leave a bolt-hole for unscrupulous operators to, um, take advantage of a gap in the legislation. You may find that the same defence will be raised by, um, people outside 12 nautical miles. Peter Dawson fears it could lead to more scenes like this ` the collision between the Ady Gill and a whaling ship two years ago. It would encourage protestors to take risks which they shouldn't ordinarily be taking. Even Elvis Teddy's signalled he may be out fighting Petrobras again. I'm not ruling it out. We never rule out anything. Amy Kelley, ONE News The country's most powerful banker has been told by exporters he needs to do more to help fire up the economy. Allan Bollard's decision not to change the OCR is good news for borrowers, but those trading overseas aren't happy. Political editor Corin Dann reports. For the last 12 months, farmers have been in a sweet spot. Grass growth, thanks to a wet summer, has been the best in years, while world prices for agricultural goods have been riding high. However, in an ominous sign for the economy, prices are dropping and the golden run looks to be ending. We've had this huge lift, which was much needed, and then suddenly we've been dropped down, and unfortunately, it's been a very short spike that we've had. Earlier this week, a Federated Farmers survey showed a big drop in farmer confidence. High on the list of concerns was the prospect of a meltdown in the eurozone and a high Kiwi dollar, which is clipping farmgate returns. We've always said that the dollar follows the produce prices, but it hasn't come down yet. When we've seen the prices drop, I mean, we're still hovering around the 80c. The Finance Minister accepts the Kiwi dollar's strength against the US is a problem. If the dollar stays around 80c, that's still pretty tough for farmers and other exporters. The Reserve Bank governor is saying the same thing. However, some exporters say talk is no longer good enough, and Allan Bollard should have cut the OCR today to bring down the dollar. The currency is overvalued, and most commentators agree with that, and yet we see no action from the Reserve Bank, largely because they are concerned about triggering another asset bubble. On a positive note, Dr Bollard stressed that the economy is expected to grow modestly over the next few years. That means NZ should at least escape the fate of the British economy, which was today confirmed to be stuck in a double-dip recession. Corin Dann, ONE News. Thousands of thalidomide sufferers around the world could be in line to receive millions of dollars in compensation. It follows revelations the German manufacturer allowed the drug to be sold despite knowing about its harmful effects. Helen Castles has more. Thalidomide was a drug marketed to mothers in the late 1950s and '60s as a remedy for morning sickness. Decades later, 10,000 people worldwide are suffering the effects ` among them at least 10 NZers. It has caused so much misery in its lifetime. I've never known anything to have caused so much misery as a drug called thalidomide. Drug maker Grunenthal maintained it was an unforeseeable tragedy. But now documents show that wasn't true and the company was warned about the danger thalidomide posed to foetuses, but chose to ignore it. It's overwhelming, because for the first time, we now have proof of what we knew all along ` that Grunenthal did a big cover-up, and it was their way of not having to deal with what they've caused ` the biggest disaster in peacetime. Barry de Geest is one of those 10 Kiwis who survived the debilitating effects of thalidomide. He won nearly $80,000 in compensation from drug company Diageo, which bought thalidomide from Grunenthal. But despite that, he says it's not enough. They still make billions of dollars of profit, and they started that whole process of thalidomide. So we should be able to get a share of that, cos we've had to deal with it after all these years, while they've been living in the lap of luxury. Thalidomide is available here in NZ, but is under strict controls. The drug stifles the growth of living tissue, but is sometimes used to treat conditions like leprosy, Aids and cancer. Diageo is already considering settlements with up to 130 victims here and in Australia. Legal experts say these new revelations will help their case. Helen Castles, ONE News. Just ahead ` who's that girl? A surprise revelation about North Korea's new young leader. And the cash that was too hot to handle. Find out why this pile was shoved in the oven. Could I have a price check on TENA bladder weakness liners, register 7? Well, it's just a slight weakening of the pelvic muscles. It's no big deal. I'm fine with it. It's no big deal with TENA. 1 The battle over gay marriage may just be gearing up here, but over in the US, it's just got fiercer. A fast-food chain has found itself at the centre of a row when the CEO voiced his strong feelings on gay marriage. The ABC's Pierre Thomas explains. The head of Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A has never made a secret of his Christian conservative leanings. Be thankful in all circumstances. His national chain, with more than 1600 outlets is never open on Sundays. But Dan Cathy's latest comments denouncing gay marriage set off a firestorm. Reaction was swift. The Henson Company, which had partnered with Chick-fil-A to bring Muppet toys to kids' meals, announced it was ending their commercial relationship. And in Chicago, where a new Chick-fil-A was slated to open on this site ` public officials said today, 'Not a chance.' Chick-fil-A's values are not Chicago's values. They're not respectful of our residents, our neighbours and our family members. In a statement to ABC News, Chick-fil-A said it treats... Unless there's a really good reason, and there rarely is, the personal views of the individual in charge of the company ` it's not a good idea to co-mingle them with the product. But Chick-fil-A is fighting back. Today the chain said it pulled the Muppets toys because of safety concerns before Henson cut its ties to them. And two former Republican presidential candidates, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, are leaping to the defence of Chick-fil-A. Santorum tweeting... Meanwhile, Scotland looks set to become the first country in Britain to legalise gay marriage. Later this year, the Scottish government will publish a draft bill allowing same sex weddings. The first couples could be able to marry as early as 2015. The bill will contain some provisions which will allow churches to opt out of performing the ceremonies. North Korea has long been seen as a secretive country, so perhaps it's no surprise its young leader has secretly married. Kim Jong-un announced that he's married a former pop star. The ABC's Mark Willacy has the story. From being made marshal of the motherland to being married to the mystery woman. It's been a big week for Kim Jong-un. After much speculation about the identity of his consort, all was revealed on state TV. (SPEAKS KOREAN) TRANSLATOR: While a song of acclamation was echoing throughout the place, the Supreme Leader, Dear Marshal Kim Jong-un, entered the hall for the opening ceremony with his wife, Comrade Ri Sol-ju. When the happy couple were hitched wasn't disclosed. Some analysts say it could have been several years ago. Whenever it was, it seems the guest list was exclusive. To my knowledge, I don't think we were invited to the wedding; nor did we have any advanced information. Ri Sol-ju first appeared with the chubby young leader earlier this month at a bizarre concert featuring dancing Disney characters and the Rocky movie theme. Since then, they've visited a mausoleum, an amusement park and a kindergarten, where both patted the heads of children. North Koreans never had their heads patted by Kim's late father. In fact, the stern-faced Kim Jong-il never appeared publicly with any of his wives. Inside the hermit kingdom, few even knew their names. At one stage, Kim Jong-il did marry a dancer. Now there's speculation his son has married a singer. (SINGS IN KOREAN) This is Ri Sol-ju the communist crooner. But is it Ri Sol-ju, the first lady of North Korea? That's another mystery only the young prince of Pyongyang and his inner circle can solve. The British school boy who accidentally boarded a flight to Rome says he was just looking for a bathroom. Liam Corcoran defied amped-up Olympic security and wandered through the barriers and onto the plane with a family group. The 11-year-old passed the time learning the language with a group of Italians. I learnt buongiorno and ciao and grazie. He's now safely back at home with his mother. An American is counting the cost tonight of putting his cash into the oven for safe keeping. He's been left with a pile of melted plastic after his wife unknowingly cooked it. The man, who's too embarrassed to be named, claimed he thought it would be safe because his wife never uses the oven. Just ahead, our top tennis star is back at Wimbledon. Find out what she says about an Olympics win. Oh, my throat. If your sore throat needs warming comfort,... ...try Strepsils Warm. It has a special formulation with proven antibacterial action and a gentle warming sensation. Ah. Ooh. Ooh. (GIGGLES) Wrap up with Strepsils Warm. Now a blocked nose can also be relieved with the menthol vapours of Strepsils Sore Throat and Blocked Nose. POP! Now to the most viewed stories on our website today. Earthquakes continue to rattle viewers who took to onenews.co.nz when a 5.2 magnitude quake was felt in the lower North Island this evening. Russian steel magnate Alexander Abramov has topped this year's National Business Review's rich list. And a US gossip magazine says Demi Moore is dating Kiwi actor Martin Henderson. NZ tennis number one Marina Erakovic will be back at Wimbledon in the next few hours, this time for a practice hit at what will be the Olympic venue. It's familiar turf for Erakovic, who prefers a grass court. It turns out a Wimbledon win would mean more to her than one at the Olympics. For me, personally, Wimbledon is the pinnacle, but, I mean, not to say that Olympic gold would not` I mean, that would be incredible as well. Erakovic was knocked out in the second round of the singles last month. She's currently ranked 46th in the world. Now to the weather. The ridge builds over the country tomorrow, gently pushing a trough southwards over the lower South island while at the same time nudging that low pressure north of the country further away. Meanwhile, a low developing off the New South Wales coast tonight becomes more organised tomorrow. For weather, see onenews.co.nz That's it from us here on Tonight. Thanks for watching. Goodnight. Captions by Glenna Casalme and Richard Edmunds. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2012