The Anti-Smacking Amendment

The Anti-Smacking Amendment

http://cimba7200.blogspot.com/2007/05/anti-smacking-amendment-this-week-nz.html

This week the NZ Government tried to finalise the passing of legislation to prevent parents or guardians from disciplining their children by smacking them if the need arose.

The legislation originated from the NZ Greens Party 'Children's Issues' Spokesperson who wanted to repeal the part of the act that enabled parents or guardians to use reasonable force when disciplining their children.
See: http://www.greens.org.nz/searchdocs/other8780.html

As the Labour Government presently rules without a majority and depends on the good will of some of the minor parties to help them stay in power, they owed it to the Green Party to help them pass this, a Green party bill, through the house - no matter what - to keep their loyalty.

During earlier readings of the bill in parliament it became apparent that this was an exceptionally unpopular piece of legislation among New Zealanders, and as the day for the final reading approached about 80% of the population was against it.

So what to do? The Labour Government was between a rock and a hard place. If the bill wasn't passed they would have failed the loyalty to the Greens. If it passed the people of NZ would never forgive them.

But a knight in shining armor, in the form of the major opposition National Party leader stepped into the gap with an amendment that effectively softened the legislation, and in my mind repealed the proposed legislation.

What a farce? The Labour Government and the Green Party now have huge lashings of egg not just over their faces but all over their clothes as well!! Metaphorically speaking that is!

Government has no place interfering in the lives of good law abiding and loving families. Sometimes a smack is the last resort to reinforce discipline of children, so long as it is carried out with an open hand and no other device. Let us all be conscious of how we discipline our children, so that no harm comes to them. Such loving parents must not be made into criminals.

And let these protests prevent any further government intrusion into good parenting homes.