By Dan Satherley and RadioLIVE staff
Despite outing himself as a law-breaker and insisting many Kiwi parents are his partners in crime, Colin Craig won't face any police action.
The Conservative Party leader says he still smacks his children, despite a law change in 2007 effectively making it illegal.
"I am not putting the good raising of a child behind a silly law," he said on RadioLIVE this morning.
"The silly law isn't working for me; it's not working for two-thirds of other parents because they're recognising their job to raise their children is more important, and I commend them for it."
But police have confirmed Mr Craig won't be investigated, despite owning up to the crime.
The spokesperson told Newstalk ZB that Mr Craig's comments do not amount to disclosure of an offence and said the police don’t want to be drawn into a political debate about smacking in an election year.
An amendment to section 59 of the Crimes Act in 2007, introduced by then-Green MP Sue Bradford, removed the right of parents to use a defence of "reasonable force" if prosecuted for assault on their children.
Parents can use "reasonable force" to stop their children from harming others or themselves, engaging in criminal, disruptive or offensive behaviour, and in "good care in parenting", but not for the purposes of "correction".
Mr Craig says since the law came into force, child abuse rates have gone up and "great families" have been subject to investigation.
"The polling last year… showed that still three-quarters of New Zealanders think this law should be changed. That's three out of every four New Zealanders still think this law is silly and ought to be changed."
Instead, he says New Zealand should adopt laws similar to those in Australia, where smacking is still allowed and tools such as belts or wooden spoons are not specifically outlawed.
"It still lets good parents get on with the business of discipline, and if they want to give Johnny a light smack on the bottom they're allowed to do that. But they're not allowed to do anything like hit Johnny around the head," says Mr Craig.
"I think New Zealanders will breathe a sigh of relief when this piece of legislation gets sorted out."
Police laid only eight prosecutions against parents for smacking their children in the law's first five years. Of those, seven had hit their child on the head or face. The eighth was discharged without conviction for a smack on the hand.
Mr Craig, whose party could be vital in propping up the National Government for a third term at this year's election, says he hasn't discussed the issue with Prime Minister John Key yet.
"I think he knows perfectly well this isn't a law that's sitting well," says Mr Craig, who wouldn't commit to making it a bottom line, but said it was a "no-brainer".
"If we get there with the numbers… then yes of course we want this to be there for review."
Mr Key backed the anti-smacking bill once a clause giving police discretion not to prosecute "inconsequential" cases was added.
Research commissioned by the Ministry of Social Development prior to the law's introduction concluded physical punishment was detrimental to children's behaviour, intelligence and mental health.
3 News / RadioLIVE
source: newshub archive
