25 July 2011

Commission of Inquiry into Abuse Will Avoid ‘Petty Politics’

Family First NZ is repeating its call for a non-political Commission of Inquiry into the unacceptable levels of child abuse in NZ and says that the response of Labour and Greens to the Green Paper on abuse about to be released by the government proves that politicians must be removed from the process.

“The petty party politics is destroying any progress in solving the cancer of child abuse that is destroying our country. Politicians are not part of the solution with all their green and white papers, reports, and conferences,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“We have had Commission of Inquiries this year into the Pike river tragedy, the collapse of buildings and consequent loss of life in the Christchurch earthquake, and previous inquiries into police conduct (2004), genetic modification (2000–2001), and Auckland governance (2007-2009) – yet no inquiry into one of the greatest social problems facing the country. The issue of child abuse deserves a high priority total focus which a Commission would give.”

“Over the past 30 years we have allowed a succession of policies to diminish the importance of family structure and marriage. We have watched as politicians have given adults the right to silence, bail and parole while the rights of children to be safe have been ignored. We have allowed children to be raised in homes with an unacceptable level of drug abuse, family dysfunction and physical and emotional harm, while tip-toeing around the issues of our binge drinking culture and half-hearted response to drugs.”

“The Inquiry also needs to include a look at the effect of long-term welfare dependency, the diminishing rates of marriage and the role of family structure, and the urgent need for an independent CYF Complaints Authority so that good families are not victims of misguided policies such as the anti-smacking law,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“The ongoing rates of child abuse are a wake-up call that children will never be safe until we are honest enough as a country to identify and tackle the real causes of child abuse. An independent Inquiry free of political correctness and point-scoring is essential,” says Mr McCoskrie.

WEBSITE: www.stoptheabuse.org.nz

ENDS

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