2. JOHN BOSCAWEN (ACT) Link to this
to the Minister of Justice
Is it Government policy for parents giving their children a light smack for the purpose of correction to be breaking the law; if not, what is the Government’s policy?
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice) Link to this
No; the Government’s policy is that responsible parents should not be criminalised for a light smack. If there is compelling evidence that the current legislation is not working as intended, the Government will work to correct it. I am advised that to date such evidence has not been forthcoming. Last year there were 33 complaints about smacking and one prosecution, which was later withdrawn. To put it into perspective, over the same period there were 83,000 complaints about domestic violence. To further reassure parents that they will not be criminalised for a light smack, the Prime Minister has announced three measures to ensure that the law is working as intended: a review of police and Child, Youth and Family policies and procedures in cases where smacking is involved; bringing forward a report from the Ministry of Social Development on the effect of the law change; and inviting police to continue to report on the operation of the law for the next 3 years.
Given that the Minister says it is not the Government’s policy for smacking for the purposes of correction to be against the law, does he agree with the Prime Minister, who said: “The law broadly says you can’t smack your kids.”?
Does the Minister accept that parents are not concerned so much about whether they are being prosecuted but more concerned about the fact that they are breaking the law by smacking their children for the purpose of correction?
That is why the three-pronged programme I have just outlined has been indicated to the New Zealand public as a process that the Government will follow. My understanding is that the review I mentioned is the first of those three prongs and will be completed around December. At that point we will have information to hand.