by Rex Wockner
Statistics New Zealand reports there were 430 civil-union registrations last year.
There were 397 registrations by New Zealand couples and 33 by foreign couples. Of the resident registrations, 188 were female couples, 131 were male couples and 78 were opposite-sex couples.
The marriagelike civil-union law came into force in April 2005. New Zealand's population is about 4.1 million.