Tamihere John: Crimes (Abolition of Force as a Justification for Child Discipline) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Tamihere John: Crimes (Abolition of Force as a Justification for Child Discipline) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:627;Page:22096] 
JOHN TAMIHERE (Labour—Tamaki Makaurau) 
: 
 Firstly I want to state that we all abhor abuse and violence towards children—I do not think there is one member in this House who does not. Secondly the bill before us as at present drafted in the event that it is passed in its present state would make all parents criminally liable for assault. In terms of the way the present bill is drafted that is a fact. I do not accept or agree to that. I do accept on behalf of the Labour Party that because it is such a contentious issue such a widely debated issue it should be referred to a select committee so that Kiwis can have a good say about it. The extent to which the report back occurs will be interesting to say the least. 
Thirdly I want to say that in my respectful opinion in terms of the information and evidence received as Minister of Youth Affairs 95 percent—or more—of Kiwi parents are great parents. I am sick and tired of hearing report after report from do-gooder organisations that feast on the failure of dysfunctional families and that come into the House lobbying groups and telling Kiwi parents that they are bad parents. I disregard that and I have the greatest of disrespect for that. One day in this country and in this Parliament we will start to stand up rejoice and celebrate our great parents and the great successes they are achieving with the great kids they are producing. It is about time that we shift the debate to that extent. 
Stephen Franks 
: Why don’t you vote against the bill? 
JOHN TAMIHERE 
: I say to that tug muscle that I have just said that the bill is going to a select committee so that people can have a say. 
I also want to challenge the view expressed by Stephen Franks who thinks that New Zealand society is violent. Why does he not go to Iraq? Why does he not go to London or wherever else? That is an overstatement. Is there violence in New Zealand society? Any violence regardless of the degree or level is unacceptable. That is the issue. The issue is that we should not beat ourselves up over it. The reality is that more people will then start to see our research projects. If people care to have a look at our research projects in terms of what we fund they will see that we always fund what is going wrong with Kiwis rather than celebrating and rejoicing in what is right about them. So in terms of this debate I say that the bill as at present drafted criminalises all Kiwi parents. 
I am a parent. I have five children and I smack them. It is not a problem to me and I say right now that if someone wants to come on to my land into my house with my family and dictate the terms as to how I can bring up my family then that person has another thing coming. 
When we have this wonderful debate before the select committee and when everybody else gets involved in it under no circumstances can we allow the nosy parker State to start to poke its nose into our lounges to the extent that it starts to dictate how we will rear our children. 
The second thing is that that is the thin edge of the wedge. In the next minute I will not be allowed to give them a drink of coke because it is full of sugar. Where will it stop? So I say to my colleagues that I support the debate I support the bill’s going to a select committee but under no circumstances can the present bill be referred back to this House to be voted on in its present state.