Is the law really working as intended Prime Minister?

Larry Baldock’s latest email makes some good points.

Kiwi Party leader, Larry Baldock, is asking the Prime Minister, John Key, to explain to the 88% who voted ‘no’ in the referendum what he actually means when he continually claims the anti-smacking law is working.

…”A useful test of the efficacy of the law might be to consider how many prosecutions the police were making of ‘real child abusers’. This is because supporters of the amendment to Sec 59 constantly claimed that the police were hindered from prosecuting real child abusers because the sec 59 defence of reasonable force meant they could easily be acquitted. They claimed that as a result the police were not even bothering to bring charges against these criminals.

“This of course was not supported by a proper study of case law over the past 15 years nor confirmed by the police statistics.

“However if we accept this as a justified basis for the new law, we should reasonably be able to expect a dramatic increase in the number of police prosecutions of those involved in abusing children, given that the law now prohibits any use of force for correction.”Police records and statements by Deputy Commissioner Ron Pope from the last police report on the new law that “it’s business as usual for the police” clearly confirms that the law is not working in this regard either.

“There is only one aspect in which it could be claimed the law is working, though I cannot believe that this is what the Prime Minister really means or wants, given all his statements about not wanting to interfere in how parents raise their children.

“The goal of the law is to eventually stop parents, all parents, from using any force for correction.

“New Zealanders are not stupid nor were they confused about the referendum question. They have understood from the very beginning what Sue Bradford and her supporter’s intentions were.
Those intentions were clear in the Green Party’s first press release back in 2003 when they announced they had drafted an anti-smacking law to “stop parents physically punishing their children in line with UN demands.”

“A recent survey did confirm a reduction in the number of parents using smacking for correction, which is not surprising given that it has been a criminal offence for the last two years.  Such a decline does not correspond with a less violent society I might hasten to add,” said Mr Baldock.

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