9. JOHN BOSCAWEN (ACT) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does he stand by his statement that the wording of the referendum “Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?” is “a bit ambiguous”; if so, why?
Hon JOHN KEYWhy does the Prime Minister continue to support legislation that makes a smack for the purposes of correction a criminal offence, thus making good parents into criminals; and how can New Zealanders have any respect for the rule of law when the Government has told the police not to enforce it?
I think that when the Parliament voted on this matter some years back, it actually sought to reach a compromise. That compromise was to send a strong message to the police that we did not want good parents to be criminalised for lightly smacking a child. It is my belief that the police are carrying out the wishes of that Parliament—and indeed, I think, those carried forward into this Parliament. On that basis, I think that good New Zealand parents have nothing to fear.
Does the Prime Minister accept that my member’s bill that is going into the ballot tomorrow and is based on the amendment from Chester Borrows will not take us back to the situation that we had before, in which parents could, in certain narrow circumstances, hit their children with a riding crop, for example; if so, will his Government be supporting my common-sense legislation when it comes up for its first reading?
Firstly, let me answer those questions in reverse order. I say that the previous National Party caucus had an agreed position. That agreed position was reflected in the law that was passed. I cannot tell the member whether we would support his bill, because our caucus has not had an opportunity to discuss that matter. We will not consider that matter unless or until the member’s bill is drawn from the ballot. I say that in my view the current law is working. I have given New Zealand parents a commitment that if the law did not work, I would change it. I stand by that commitment. But I have seen no evidence to date that the law is not working.