Pillay Lynne: Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Pillay Lynne: Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:638;Page:8860] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour—Waitakere) 
: 
 This is a great day. It is a day of pride and a day for our children. Firstly I congratulate the churches and the ministries on the prayer vigil at St Paul’s today. It was certainly a celebration of our children and it was a very very moving ceremony. 
I thank the hundreds of submitters who appeared before the Justice and Electoral Committee which I chair. I also thank the organisations that worked relentlessly and ran a fantastic campaign. They were led by Barnardos EPOCH Women’s Refuge Plunket Save the Children Unicef and Every Child Counts but there were very many more organisations such as our Families Commission and our Children’s Commissioner. They have always stood firm and advocated against quite difficult public misinformation for the rights of our children. Then there were the emails—the thousands and thousands of emails in support whereas we were being told that public opinion did not support change. Those emails which clogged up our system said: “Please bring about change and protect our children.” 
I also want to recognise the local organisations in Waitakere that were so supportive and promoted the anti-violence message. In fact Waitakere City Council was the first council to stand up and say that it wanted to see a change made to section 59. 
I thank the select committee including the staff. No one on that committee was unmoved by what we saw and heard. I thank Chester Borrows. I never agreed with his amendment but I know he was trying to do the right thing and in a very heartfelt way I thank Chester Borrows for withdrawing his amendment. Sir Geoffrey Palmer’s assistance was invaluable certainly firstly with the committee and I thank him. 
Along with the Greens the Maori Party and the Progressives my Labour colleagues stood solid and steady and were consistently supportive in very difficult circumstances. I cannot not mention the members of other parties—the Hon Peter Dunne the Hon Brian Donnelly and Doug Woolerton—who knew what was right and stood their ground. I also acknowledge Katherine Rich who in quite difficult circumstances stood by her principles and never wavered. 
Much of this bill has been about reassuring the public about misinformation. The original bill to repeal section 59 got the public of New Zealand in such a concerned state that a decision was made to amend the bill to clarify that ordinary parents would not be criminalised by the normal activities of parenting. This was not enough for the zealots who criticised the bill and wanted to bring it down. I really cannot say how proud I am to stand in this Chamber today and compliment the amendment put forward by the Hon Peter Dunne. 
This amendment was worked out—as I think I heard the media acknowledging—in the late hours by Helen Clark and Sue Bradford and again with invaluable assistance from Sir Geoffrey Palmer. The amendment starts with the three simple words “To avoid doubt” then it goes on “it is affirmed that the Police have the discretion not to prosecute complaints against parents of a child …” and so it goes on taking into account whether it is inconsequential or in the public interest. That was made very clear in the select committee report when we reported back. Sue Bradford and I and many others spoke and said that ordinary good parents would not be prosecuted. This law is about removing a defence when children have been severely abused. Unfortunately it was very hard to run that debate because there was a counter-debate that just kept saying the bill is about criminalising parents. It never was. 
I am so proud that this amendment affirms exactly what the select committee recommended. I commend Sue Bradford the Prime Minister and all who have stood alongside in bringing this bill to the House.