MEDIA RELEASE
3 August 2009
Smacking Poll: People v Politicians
Family First NZ says that the latest poll on attitudes to the smacking law is a reminder that the smacking debate is essentially a battle between the huge majority of NZ’ers and the politicians.
“The One News poll shows 83% opposition to the smacking law, consistent with every other poll done both before the law change and in the two years since,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of the Family First NZ.
“But our elected representatives are adopting a ‘we know better than you’ attitude and are refusing to listen to the wishes of the NZ public. This is a disgraceful display of democracy, and shows incredible disrespect.”
“The poll also shows that those who believe that the current law may be working at the moment (25%) still don’t support the law (only 13% voting yes). The government and the police can try to paint a rosy picture on the law but the bottom line is that NZ’ers simply don’t accept it.”
Family First NZ agree with the 76% who say that the Referendum is not a good use of public money but has been necessitated because of ‘political deafness’ and a cynical postponing of the Referendum from being held at the General Election last year.
“This whole debate around the anti-smacking law has come down to a battle between the common sense of families and the agenda of politicians and government funded groups,” says Mr McCoskrie.
“Parents are doing their job 24/7 and the vast majority are doing a brilliant job. It’s time we listened to them on this issue.”
“Let’s target the real causes of child abuse – not real parents.”
Summary of polls for the past four years http://www.voteno.org.nz/polls.htm
ENDS
For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First:
Bob McCoskrie – National Director
Mob. 027 55 555 42
Sign up now to received FREE email updates of issues affecting families – be informed!
Leave a Reply