Roy Heather: General Debate 
Roy Heather: General Debate 
[Volume:655;Page:4586] 
Hon HEATHER ROY (Deputy Leader—ACT) 
: 
 I move  
That the House take note of miscellaneous business 
. Violence is not acceptable in any shape or form. It is a plague that haunts our communities and violence against the vulnerable and our children is totally abhorrent. I say that as a mother and as a politician. That is why we have laws that are explicit about violent behaviour and that impose punishments on those in our society who choose to inflict violence on others. The anti-smacking bill the repeal of section 59 of the Crimes Act was promoted as the solution to the terrible abuse suffered by too many children. Details published around these cases—the Kahui twins “Lillybing” and far too many other children—were so repugnant that I could not read them. 
But the anti-smacking bill is not the answer to stopping child abuse. The debate has relied on emotion rather than reason. The unintended result of the smacking ban has been to criminalise hundreds of thousands of good parents. Those who beat their children to a pulp have never paid attention to the law and never will. The police have been told to use their discretion when complaints are made but that makes a farce of the laws. Laws must be clear enforceable and routinely enforced to be effective and that is not the case we have now. 
What really surprised New Zealanders during the anti-smacking debate was the flip-flop of the National Party. It did a complete U-turn opposing the bill all the way through and then supporting it at the last minute. National MPs did not even support the very excellent amendments of their own MP Chester Borrows. In the first instance it was only the ACT Party that voted in favour of Chester Borrows’ amendments. It is only the ACT Party that believes that intrusion of the State into the homes of good parents is unacceptable. It is left to the ACT Party to reintroduce Chester Borrows’ amendments to this House as a member’s bill in the name of my colleague John Boscawen. This bill will not take us back to when people could beat children with a weapon a tool or an implement without being prosecuted. Under this bill parents can give their child a light smack for the purpose of correction as long as the result is no more than transitory or trifling. More than 300000 people signed a petition to hold a referendum on the question: “Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?”. It is a question that has divided the country not 50:50 not even 60:40 and it has split the New Zealand Parliament from the rest of New Zealand; a Parliament that voted 113:8 in support of the anti-smacking bill and ignored polls that showed the public opposed the bill by a ratio of 4:1. 
It is no wonder the people of New Zealand think that politicians do not listen. ACT supports this referendum. We support the people of New Zealand having a say. We support democracy. We do so because this Parliament has refused to listen to the people. Prime Minister John Key has dismissed the referendum as an irrelevance and said that the result will not change his mind. I ask him to reflect on those statements and consider the anguish and the confusion that the anti-smacking bill has caused around the country. Proponents of the law say that it is working because it is reducing child abuse. Thirteen children have been killed in 25 months since this law was passed so I do not think that is a success. This law targets the wrong people. The thugs and bullies the child abusers the real criminals not good parents will continue to assault and murder children. It will not stop the James Whakaruru’s or the Delcelia Witaka’s from being abused or killed. What it does do is frighten confuse and prevent loving parents from parenting. The ACT Party is the only party in this House that opposed the anti-smacking law; we were the only party to publicly support the referendum to allow New Zealanders to have a say; and we remain the only party committed to reforming the law to protect loving New Zealand families.