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PM’s Presser: No Maori Seats & Smacking 'Comfort'
PM’s Press Conference Audio: No Maori Super Seats but Comfort on Smacking
By Spike Mountjoy
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On Monday the Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues rejected the idea of reserved Maori seats on the new Auckland Council.
Key said Local Government Minister Rodney Hide’s ultimatum – that he would resign his portfolios if the seats were included - was “a factor, but not the dominant factor”. He said the seats would be inconsistent with National Party philosophy, and that such a policy, if it was to be implemented - which it is not - should be rolled out nation-wide.
Key said Rodney Hide and Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples should be able to find a solution which ensures the council will engage with Maori, such as an advisory board or a standing committee.
The PM also announced measures to reassure parents they will not be prosecuted for giving their children a “light and inconsequential smack”.
Key said the controversial law change has worked well so far, but he would look at changing it if this was no longer the case. He added that any attempt to change the law would probably take up the focus of parliament for the next 18 months.
Key’s smacking
comfort measures include:
• Regular police reports on
how the law is working, including publication of statistics
re: prosecutions.
• Changes to the way Child Youth And
Family (CYF) follow up complaints - “if a parent lightly
smacks their child they won’t find themselves under full
investigation from CYF”.
• The early release of a
report on the law from the Ministry of Social Development,
now due out in late September, rather than the end of the
year.
This decision pre-empts the findings of the select committee, which is due to report back soon.
The PM also
discussed the Emissions Trading Scheme, and refused to say
whether the SAS have been deployed to
Afghanistan.
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