National candidate 'struck off' as marriage celebrant

National Party Invercargill candidate Eric Roy revealed yesterday that he had been "struck off" as a marriage celebrant.

However, the reason remained a mystery.

Former MP Mr Roy said he was asked to conduct a wedding earlier this year but could not because his status as a marriage celebrant had been revoked.

"They (Internal Affairs) then said I was struck off in December of 2003 and I said that wasn't right...I conducted weddings right through 2004."

The revelation made him question the status of three couples he married that year, he said.

Internal Affairs told him he had written a letter asking to be removed from the register but Mr Roy said he had done no such thing.

"It's a bizarre set of circumstances."

He suspected that his opposition to the Civil Unions Act might have played a part in his removal from the marriage celebrant register.

After further inquiries, Mr Roy said the 2004 weddings he performed were legal ceremonies as the actual date he had been taken off the register was April 2004 -- after the three ceremonies.

Mr Roy said he became a marriage celebrant in the late 1990s during his battle with cancer.

Friends had asked him to marry them and the role appealed to him as something worthwhile. He did not charge for his services.

An Internal Affairs spokesman said he would look into the case but said Mr Roy's opposition to civil unions would not have played a part.

Celebrants could remove themselves from the register or memberships could lapse, he said.

"If a licence isn't current you're not legally permitted to perform a ceremony."

- nzpa