FI – 250-253 – Family Integrity

16 May 2007 – Family Integrity #253 — Post Mortem

A truly sad day for New Zealand.

The final vote in Parliament was 113 in favour and 8 against the bill to criminalise parents by making the correction of children a criminal offense, a subset of assault, worth as much as two years in jail.

The passage of this bill has tipped New Zealand into the cauldron of socialist totalitarianism. This is more sophisticated than the old USSR technique of ruling by sheer terror and sealing the borders. This new version weakens all resolve by offering every financial support, even for the most irresponsible of lifestyles (the excesses of the social welfare system), and then it controls children’s affections by the intense indoctrination of the compulsory secular school system and ease of access to all manner of inappropriate viewing and listening media, and then it controls parents by threatening through CYFS and other interventionist bureaucracies to take away even their few hours of caring for their children each day, after the schools have already robbed them of their affection and loyalty.

“If the major political parties had allowed a conscience vote on this bill as originally promised, the bill would have been dead and buried at the 2nd reading,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First. “It is tragic that while the government turns a blind eye to the major problems of gang violence, drunken teen parties, the ‘P’ epidemic, violence in schools, violence towards police, gambling addiction, housing concerns, and breakdown in families, they have found plenty of energy and time to pass a law that targets good parents doing a great job.”

Bob forgot to mention the abortion industry which encourages mothers to pre-meditate upon killing their own children and the assisted suicide and euthanasia movements which want to change the public’s attitude toward death from the curse that it is, brought in as a result of the original sin of our original parents, Adam and Eve, to a welcomed friend, one that would soon be introduced to babies born with even the most minor defects, including the non-preferred gender, and into hospital practice for the helpless, the cantakerous, the demented. And let’s not forget the porn industry, which is defiling more and more school children on and off campus. All these things promote a culture of death and despondency, purposelessness and meaninglessness. But they foment dysfunction, and that helps fire up a perpetual motion and income-generating circus of social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, lawyers, counsellors, foster agencies, foster homes, women’s refuges, politicians and innumerable child-advocacy groups, all feeding off this increased dysfunction. Sadly, none of these groups ever focus on working themselves out of a job.

A Family First press release tells how a leading QC has recommended to parents that, now Bradford’s bill has passed, they never acknowledge that they are “correcting” bad behaviour. This new Section 59 makes child correction a criminal act. Grant Illingworth QC said, “The difficulty…is that it does not tell us what “correction” means. In ordinary language, and for most ordinary people, correction would include preventing a child from continuing to engage in offensive or disruptive behaviour and preventing harm to another child [actions allowed by this new Section 59]. But that cannot be the correct interpretation because it would mean that the section is self contradictory.”

Mr Illingworth went on to say that this is of enormous importance, for if a parent intended to “correct” a child’s disruptive and offensive behaviour, and this intention came to light in the course of an investigation, that parent would have no defense against a charge of criminal assault, even though the force used would appear identical to that which another parent might use simply to prevent the continuation of disruptive and offensive behaviour.

“The moral of the story is that, in any investigation, it would be extremely unwise for a parent to admit that she or he was attempting to correct a child’s aberrant behaviour. And if that isn’t silly, I don’t know what is.”

What Now?
One must evaluate one’s options in the light of whether one’s child rearing practices are likely to be incriminating and whether they are likely to come to the notice of either CYFS or the Police.

A police officer informed me last night that they will have to investigate any reported case of force used to correct. This will obviously be an interpretation on the part of whoever makes the complaint. But because this kind of complaint will fall under the category of “domestic violence”, and the police have a zero tolerance policy toward domestic violence, they will have to investigate. Remember, this includes a lot more than mere smacking. It is about any use of force: taking a child’s arm, hand, shoulder to direct them in a certain direction when disruption, offense, criminal activity or harm are not at issue; confinement against the child’s will; requiring dress and grooming codes to conform to your tastes when the child objects and a large section of society would find nothing offensive in the child’s choices; and prohibiting your children from associating with persons or visiting premises about which you do not approve but which are not illegal or obviously harmful.

Parenting must start early. Train your children to think and believe and react as you do from day one. Do not expose them too much or too early to worldviews and ways of which you do not approve if you do not want them to develop a taste for them or a desire to try them out. Sending one’s children to public schools takes on a very serious set of implications as a result….you must be prepared to have your children adopt ways of thinking, dressing, grooming, speaking, obeying, disobeying, attitudes and values that are not your own, for you will be virtually powerless to correct them. If anyone knows how to correct error or misguided or inappropriate or unhealthy or unwholesome or undesirable or ways that are just plain wrong….if anyone knows how to effect correction without the use of any kind of force, many others would like to hear about it. It appears to me that parents will be reduced to advisors of autonomous children. From my reading of UN documents and particularly of Michael Reid’s book “From Innocents to Agents” (Maxim, 2006), that is precisely the objective of those behind this bill.

Some have suggested we get the Governor-General to withhold the Royal Assent.
I clearly recall that then GG Sir Paul Reeves signed into law a bill that forbids the GG from withholding the Royal Assent. He was GG from 1985 to 1990. Actually, I’ve had a look around the internet and can find no evidence of this, although I clearly remember it being discussed in the news of the day.

I did find this however:

“The last time a Monarch refused assent to a Bill (no Governor or Governor-General has ever done so) was during the reign of Queen Anne in 1708.” (http://www.holdenrepublic.org.nz/2006/09/telling-lies-for-her-majesty-royal.html) (There is some very informative discussion on this website.)

“The Queen reigns, the government rules, so long as it has the support of the House of Representatives” This is the simple rule that keeps things ticking along. Until the Parliament votes itself dictatorial powers and abolishes elections, the GG will not withhold Royal Assent.

From: http://www.gg.govt.nz/media/speeches.asp?type=constitutional&ID=167, speech by Governor-General Sir Michael Hardie-Boys, 24 May 1996:

(Start Quote)
Constitutionalists differ as to what these powers [of the Governor-General] might be. I will give you five. There is no doubt about the first. Some would doubt the last. The five are:

(1) to appoint a Prime Minister;

(2) to dismiss a Prime Minister;

(3) to refuse to dissolve Parliament;

(4) to force a dissolution of Parliament; and

(5) to refuse assent to legislation.

Examples of the use of all but the first of these powers are rare, and are always controversial. Indeed, the very rarity of their exercise gives rise to contentions that they have ceased to exist at all. That is particularly true of the last of them.
(End Quote)

So it would appear that we can forget thinking about that route.

What are some other alternatives?

I have already received copies of letters people have sent to MPs stating clearly that they will not obey this bill if it is passed into law. This is one way to react: simply disregard the law and be prepared to suffer the consequences. These include prosecution and a criminal record. Such a record will bar you from travel to some overseas destinations….the USA, for example, will not issue a visa to people with criminal records. It will bar you from certain occupations and job/career opportunities. But the most frightening prospect is having CYFS take your children. This will break your heart, crush your spirit, drain your assets and drive you deep into debt. And it is likely your children will also suffer REAL abuse at the hands of CYFS and foster homes.

Another is to decide to modify your child-rearing practices to what you think the law may be saying. This is extremely difficult for nobody knows what it says. It will require a number of test cases to establish precedents and definitions. Each test case, I would suggest, will represent another family chewed up and destroyed by this process.

Another would be to become very discreet about how you operate, that you train your children not to talk about anything that goes on or is discussed within your home. (Oh, darn….how does one train a child…would that not include correction and force?) You may want to monitor all your children’s conversations. Again, children spending so much time at school, away from your guidance and influence, takes on a new perspective. Teachers, of course, will be instituting new safety programmes and children’s rights programmes which will spell out to children what their parents can and cannot do. The legislation that was just passed is extremely vague, but the programmes in the schools will not be vague: they will be clear and extreme. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 8 of June 2006, outlines how all “academic institutions, professional associations, youth groups”, etc., must be recruited in the monitoring of the implementation of laws such as the one just passed. This document equates any force, regardless of how light or reasonable, with violence, abuse, cruel and degrading punishment. (It is a fascinating read, 17 pages, at http://tinyurl.com/fvrwo.)

One may also consider emigration to Australia. NZ passport holders only need to get on a plane. Once there you can stay as long as you like and take up employment immediately. There are only some social welfare benefits that would not kick in till you’ve been there for two years. Native English speakers can get jobs teaching English in local schools in many places in the world with few or no qualifications at all. I know people who have done exactly this in China, South Korea and Turkey. Those countries are not likely to have such insane legislation passed as we’ve just had any time soon. The USA and Canada are also possibilities. The USA has a lot of red tape to cut through to gain residency, but untold numbers of Cubans, Haitians, Mexicans and South Americans have been pouring across the border for over 30 years virtually unchecked and seem to get permanent residency and jobs with little difficulty.

I’ll have more information on Australia in another post soon.

Regards,

Craig Smith
National Director
Family Integrity
PO Box 9064
Palmerston North
New Zealand
Ph: (06) 357-4399
Fax: (06) 357-4389
Family.Integrity@xtra.co.nz
http://www.FamilyIntegrity.org.nz
http://familyintegrity.blogspot.com/

Our Home….Our Castle

if Section59 is repealed – or replaced…
YOU CAN KISS YOUR CHILDREN GOODBYE.
http://www.storesonline.com/members/846699/uploaded/Brochure_-_Kiss_Children_Goodbye_7.pdf

16 May 2007 – Family Integrity #252 — The Petition

Dear Friends,

Also: Be sure to sign, if you haven’t already, the petition to get this issue to a national referendum at the next election. You’ll find the petition in today’s (Wednesday 16 May) NZ herald, Dom Post, Christchurch press and Otago Daily Times.

Please also snip these petitions out of the paper and go to your neighbours and at least fill in the 10 signatures of both parts of the petition. Then send it in to the address indicated.

If we get 300,000 signatures on this petition (and we’re well over half way already) by Feb or March next year, 2008, it WILL BE an election issue, forcing the MPs to revisit this bill regardless of how the vote goes today.

Regards,

Our Home….Our Castle

if Section59 is repealed – or replaced…
YOU CAN KISS YOUR CHILDREN GOODBYE.
http://www.storesonline.com/members/846699/uploaded/Brochure_-_Kiss_Children_Goodbye_7.pdf

16 May 2007 – Family Integrity #251 — Section 59 – Please send one last email by 2:00pm today

Greetings All

This is our last email to you before the vote for the most extreme anti-smacking law in the world (according to Dr Robert E Larzelere).

There will be a two hour discussion before the vote today.

I spoke to three different offices in Parliament to try to determine when the discussion and vote will be. It wont start before 4:00pm and may not start until after the tea break 6-7:30pm.

You can listen to the debate and to the voting here: http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/live/parliament

While talking to one office, the secretary told me that of all emails the MPs have received, they have consistently been 80/90% against the repeal or amendment of Section 59. Around the time of the first March on Parliament they received about 30 emails from those who are for repeal. So even since the amendment the emails are consistently against repeal. At the time that I was talking to the secretary she looked at the inbox of an MP and all 16 emails were against repeal.

Let us all send one last email to the MPs even if it is just “Please Keep Section 59” or “Section 59 – Vote with your Conscience” in the Subject line. The MPs need to know that we are against this right up to the end. That the 83% of us have not been swayed by Key, Clark and Bradford. The amendment is no protection for good parents. It is the world’s most extreme anti-smacking law. If the MPs want to be in Parliament at the next election then they should vote against this Bill. Information on sending emails is at the end of this email.

“It’s the people against Parliament now!”

1. From: Ron Mark
To:
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 1:44 PM
Subject: RE: Most extreme legislation
Dear Correspondent,
Mr Mark has voted against the bill at 1st and 2nd readings – he sees it as interference in people’s lives to an unnecessary degree. He also does
not believe it will have the effect of reducing real child abuse, which he abhors. He voted for the amendment at the committee stage because, as it was evident the bill is going to pass, it was better to soften it than have it pass unadulterated. Having said that, however, he believes the amendment to be a nonsense. His intention is still to vote against the Bill in its entirety at the third reading this week, as he is fundamentally opposed to it. Regards, Jan Dyer,
Executive Assistant to Ron Mark MP, New Zealand First, Ph +64 4 4706693, Fax +64 4 4712414

At the moment this is how the MPs intend to vote unless they change their minds at the last moment:National, Labour, the Greens the Maori Party, and Progressive now support the bill while NZ First (at least 2 against) and United Future (2 against) are split. ACT’s two MPs and Taito-Field will vote against the bill.

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2. ACT Leader Rodney Hide has written to Helen Clark and John Key urging them to allow their MPs a free vote on Sue Bradford’s Anti-Smacking Bill. Read more here:
http://familyintegrity.blogspot.com/2007/05/15-may-2007-act-hide-calls-on-helen.html

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3. Here is the Investigate link again.
http://briefingroom.typepad.com/the_briefing_room/2007/05/media_release_f.html

And here is a link for some updates:
http://briefingroom.typepad.com/the_briefing_room/2007/05/

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4. You might like to send this whole article http://familyintegrity.blogspot.com/2007/05/13-may-2007-family-first-mps-to-vote-on.html to the MPs – Maybe if they get it 50, 100 or more times then they might read it before the debate and discussion (click on the link then copy and paste in a new email and copy the link too, then send to all the MPs) Here is a snippet from the article:

Politicians will vote this week on the world’s most extreme anti-smacking law in the world, according to Dr Robert E Larzelere, Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Science at the Oklahoma State University, who was brought to New Zealand by Family First NZ as a scientific expert on child correction for the debate on Sue Bradford’s anti-smacking bill.
In a commentary written after his week in NZ earlier this month speaking with politicians and media, he says “…the imminent New Zealand smacking ban is more extreme than Sweden’s ban in three ways. Using force to correct children will be subject to full criminal penalties …. Sweden’s ban had no criminal penalty. In addition, New Zealand’s bill bans the mildest use of force to correct children, not just smacking. This removes most disciplinary enforcements parents have used for generations, especially for the most defiant youngsters. Finally, the required change in disciplinary enforcements will be the biggest change ever imposed on parents.” Read more here:
http://familyintegrity.blogspot.com/2007/05/13-may-2007-family-first-mps-to-vote-on.html

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Please send one last email before 2pm today. Tomorrow will be too late.
Please forward this email to your friends, neighbours and relations, any list that you are on and your Church email list. Thank you
Regards
Craig and Barbara Smith
P O Box 9064, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Phone: (06) 357-4399 or (06) 354-7699
Fax: (06) 357-4389
http://www.hef.org.nz
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KiwiSmithFamily/
http://www.familyintegrity.org.nz
http://familyintegrity.blogspot.com/
http://www.cbworldview.cesbooks.co.nz

if Section59 is repealed – or replaced…
YOU CAN KISS YOUR CHILDREN GOODBYE.
http://www.storesonline.com/members/846699/uploaded/Brochure_-_Kiss_Children_Goodbye_7.pdf

1. Lobbying tools
EMAIL: Consider sending an email to all the MPs using one of these links today:
http://starstuddedsuperstep.com/section59/htm/mp_vote.htm

http://www.familyintegrity.org.nz/page/588413

http://www.familyfirst.org.nz/files/MP%20Address%20List.xls

LETTER: A very effective way to lobby, no stamp required for your own MP. Address to: (First Name)(Last Name), c/- Parliament Buildings, Wellington

FAX: This costs a bit more and is time consuming but effective. http://www.parliament.nz/NR/rdonlyres/5858C8A5-ACDF-4B35-8D7A-3ABB7B19ACDB/40463/ListOfMembers1820096.pdf

PHONING: This is much easier to do than it would seem. You just ring the MP’s office and say “Please add my name to the list of people you have who are against the Repeal or amendment of Section 59”. You have to give your name of course and that is it. http://www.parliament.nz/NR/rdonlyres/5858C8A5-ACDF-4B35-8D7A-3ABB7B19ACDB/40463/ListOfMembers1820096.pdf

Write letters to editors, talk on talk back shows, get your friends, relations and neighbours involved

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2.

You can read much commentary about it here:
Family Integrity newsletters: http://FamilyIntegrity.org.nz/page/908900
Press Releases: http://FamilyIntegrity.org.nz/page/910726
Family Integrity Blog: http://familyintegrity.blogspot.com/

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3. Re-written Section 59 — Parental Control
(1) Every parent of a child and every person in the place of a parent of the child is justified in using force if the force used is reasonable in the circumstances and is for the purpose of —
(a) preventing or minimising harm to the child or another person; or
(b) preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in conduct that amounts to a criminal offence; or
(c) preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in offensive or disuptive behaviour; or
(d) performing the normal daily tasks that are incidental to good care and parenting.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) or in any rule of common law justifies the use of force for the purpose of correction.
(3) Subsection (2) prevails over subsection (1).
(4) To avoid doubt it is affirmed that police have the discretion not to prosecute complaints against parents of any child, or those standing in place of any child, in relation to an offence involving the use of force against a child where the offence is considered to be so inconsequential that there is no public interest in pursuing a prosecution.

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Please get your friends, neighbours and relations also lobbying the MPs. The fight must go on in the name of Freedom for families!
Please forward this email to your friends, neighbours, relations, Church email list, club email lists etc
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16 May 2007 – Family Integrity #250 — May God have mercy

16 May 2007 – Family Integrity #250 — May God have mercy

Dear Friends,

Today our Parliamentarians vote on a bill to make it a criminal offense for parents to correct their own children. The term “correct” is not defined. It will make any act of physical discipline, training, chastisement and possibly much more into a criminal act of assault, worth as much as two years in jail, regardless of how light or reasonable the force used, and regardless of the child’s act of disobedience or destructiveness or dishonesty or disrespect, and regardless of any other circumstances. It is not even clear if it is only in relation to physical force…it could apply to moral force, verbal force, intimidation, removal of privileges, grounding, time out…..nobody knows since none of these things have been defined or delineated. The Bill appears certain to pass, barring a last minute miracle.
All parents in this country will become criminals who are simply awaiting the time when they will come to the notice of the police (teacher asking children at school which of them gets smacked, an angry child or nosey neighbour or vindictive relation reporting, etc.). We talked to a police officer yesterday who confirmed to us that any such report they will have to act on as it will be considered an act of “domestic violence”, a category of crime for which the police have a zero tolerance policy.

Please email or phone your MP one more time today. May God have mercy on us all.

Our Home….Our Castle

if Section59 is repealed – or replaced…
YOU CAN KISS YOUR CHILDREN GOODBYE.
http://www.storesonline.com/members/846699/uploaded/Brochure_-_Kiss_Children_Goodbye_7.pdf

FI – 250-253

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