Is the law really working as intended Prime Minister?
The Kiwi Party
Press Release
24 August, 2009

Kiwi Party leader, Larry Baldock, is asking the Prime Minister, John Key, to explain to the 88% who voted ‘no’ in the referendum what he actually means when he continually claims the anti-smacking law is working.

Mr Baldock asked, "How did we end up with the ridiculous situation where the PM is advising the police not to prosecute parents who break the law he says is working well!"

"How can anyone conclude that the low number of prosecutions of good parents by the police is a test as to whether the law is working or not?

"This law has had an effect on every parent in this country even if there had not been a single prosecution. The PM may not have had to deal with the circumstances created when his child came home from school to announce they had been informed that they should report mummy or daddy to the teacher if they were smacked, but many have.

"The Prime Minister's proposal to give comfort to parents is to advise them to wilfully break the law of the country, while disciplining their children for breaking the laws within the family home! That kind of hypocritical parenting should not be recommended by anyone, least of all the Prime Minister.

"It is good law that can give us all comfort, not the promises of a Prime Minister that could be here today and gone tomorrow, especially if he intends to ignore the majority of the voters!

"A useful test of the efficacy of the law might be to consider how many prosecutions the police were making of ‘real child abusers’. This is because supporters of the amendment to Sec 59 constantly claimed that the police were hindered from prosecuting real child abusers because the sec 59 defence of reasonable force meant they could easily be acquitted. They claimed that as a result the police were not even bothering to bring charges against these criminals.

"This of course was not supported by a proper study of case law over the past 15 years nor confirmed by the police statistics.

"However if we accept this as a justified basis for the new law, we should reasonably be able to expect a dramatic increase in the number of police prosecutions of those involved in abusing children, given that the law now prohibits any use of force for correction.

"Police records and statements by Deputy Commissioner Ron Pope from the last police report on the new law that “it's business as usual for the police” clearly confirms that the law is not working in this regard either.

"There is only one aspect in which it could be claimed the law is working, though I cannot believe that this is what the Prime Minister really means or wants, given all his statements about not wanting to interfere in how parents raise their children.

"The goal of the law is to eventually stop parents, all parents, from using any force for correction.

"New Zealanders are not stupid nor were they confused about the referendum question. They have understood from the very beginning what Sue Bradford and her supporter’s intentions were.
Those intentions were clear in the Green Party’s first press release back in 2003 when they announced they had drafted an anti-smacking law to “stop parents physically punishing their children in line with UN demands.”

"A recent survey did confirm a reduction in the number of parents using smacking for correction, which is not surprising given that it has been a criminal offence for the last two years. Such a decline does not correspond with a less violent society I might hasten to add," said Mr Baldock.

ENDS

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