People Should Have A Say On Anti-Smacking Law

Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 24 2008

People Should Have A Say On Anti-Smacking Law

Prime Minister Helen Clark is completely wrong to prevent New Zealanders from having a vote on Labour’s controversial anti-smacking legislation, ACT Leader Rodney Hide said today.

“The anti-smacking law has clearly failed to stop child abuse – just as ACT said it would,” Mr Hide said.

“All this legislation does is make criminals of good parents and tie police up with fruitless complaints. Meanwhile, the real child abuse continues on un-targeted and un-addressed.

“Just because Labour and National voted to criminalise good parents who use a smack to discipline their children doesn’t mean that Kiwis shouldn’t have a say.

“Labour’s anti-smacking legislation strikes at the very heart of how Kiwi parents raise their children, with both National and Labour saying they know best.

“ACT doesn’t accept that they do – ACT backs parents, and we back Kiwis having a say about what they think the law should be,” Mr Hide said.

ENDS