Turia Tariana: Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Turia Tariana: Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:639;Page:9292] 
TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Tenatatou katoa. In the sea of hyperbole and extreme emotion that has washed over the nation in these last few months there have been two particular cases before the court that should have stopped us all in our tracks. The first was just last Friday when the High Court in Auckland heard how a boy of 3 years of age was subjected to regular beatings using a baseball bat a vacuum cleaner pipe rods and a wooden spoon and was punched repeatedly in the face. The couple convicted of manslaughter used section 59 of the Crimes Act as their defence claiming that they only ever used reasonable force. 
They could use section 59 of the Crimes Act as a defence simply because it is there. It is a defence to allow parents to administer physical punishment against their children. No such defence exists for people doing the same to other people’s children to other adults or to pets. As long as we have people who are prepared to administer beatings so savage that a child’s blood splatters on to the ceiling and who are then able to defend that callous brutality as a “reasonable” punishment then this nation is in deep trouble. 
The other case was heard in the Napier District Court 2 weeks ago when a Hastings woman came to the attention of the police after her 7-year-old foster son was beaten so severely that he was left with welts on his arms and back still visible 6 days later. In reflecting upon her actions the woman—a grandmother—talked about the need to take responsibility saying: “There’s no reason justifying hurting your child because it’s lifelong.” She resolved that she was determined to break the cycle of violence and learn new ways. 
This is why this bill has been so significant in the evolution of Aotearoa. We all know of the outrageous abuse at the extreme end of the scale of violence that every day is being meted out to innocent children and it must stop now. We also know of the willingness and the commitment of parents and grandparents of aunts and uncles and of caregivers who are clear that there is a different way to address the disciplining of children. 
Child abuse and violence—and at its most grotesque extreme child murder—have a profound cost on the well-being of this nation. At the level of fiscal impact economist Murray Weatherston has estimated that child abuse costs our nation $1.25 billion a year. But there are other costs that emerge from the current provisions in our legislation which have allowed physical or mental violence injury or abuse neglect or negligent treatment to be suffered by a child in the care of his or her parents or guardians. These include costs in international reputation in terms of our current status by breaching the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Then there are the lifelong costs of the trauma of the vulnerable. Children have a right to grow up free from violence; to grow up unscathed by the abuse of power; undamaged by the imprint of parental ill-treatment. There are the costs of cruelty that influences future generations whereby the ill-treatment of one child is repeated in the children and the grandchildren to come. 
The Maori Party fully endorses and absolutely believes in the capacity of parents to be wonderful parents. We have travelled the country and met parents wanting us to know that they are the best possible parents they can be. We have had parents sending in photos of their children and their parents sharing their stories in a passionate desire to help. We have called right throughout this bill for the urgency of ensuring that effective parenting education programmes are provided. We know that the cases of maltreatment and violence that feature in the headlines are few in number yet far too often they overshadow the real issues facing parents in their homes. They are the issues of not knowing what to do of calling out for help and of looking for strategies for programmes and for ideas to be great parents. 
Our decision to support the repeal of section 59 of the Crimes Act was based on these factors. As long as a single child is damaged at the hands of parents we will support any legislative proposal that seeks to make a difference. As long as parents are saying to us that they want to know how to be better parents we will support proposals to make a difference. And this bill will make a difference. It has already. It has sparked debate about the most difficult challenging and important responsibilities of all—the precious opportunity to bring up children. The Maori Party wants today to pay tribute to those organisations that have lobbied members of Parliament for years—thank you. I want here to acknowledge with great respect the investment and courage demonstrated by all those organisations in the name of this bill. 
The Maori Party stands to honour the vision of Sue Bradford who has endured the onslaught of anger and fear that this change has incited in so many. Sue has stood strong in her belief that we must treasure our mokopuna as the taonga we know them to be. I thank her for her persistence her foresight and her leadership. There have been others in this House who deserve to be recognised: members who shared their personal experiences who talked about the challenge of parenting. We acknowledge Katherine Rich for having the strength of character to stand true to her beliefs—tena koe Katherine—Chester Borrows for his genuine attempt to try to put forward a compromise and of course the leaders of both National and Labour for being prepared to work together in the interests of our children. The reaction to the practice of compromise was interesting in itself—a spirit of cooperation described as “flabbergasting” as a “giant leap” and as “remarkable”. If anyone had asked for our reaction we would simply have said that it was about manaakitanga—mutual respect treating others in ways that ensure that all are elevated and enhanced in the interests of the nation. 
We think of the goals of a fair and just society and I pay my greatest tribute to the people of this country. Academics and researchers sent us papers describing how in earlier times Maori children were not physically disciplined in order to develop and nurture their fearless and adventurous spirit. Finally as we consider the fearless and adventurous spirit of children I thank the many mums and dads on both sides of the debate who whether they marched on Parliament sent an email wrote copious letters or made extremely passionate phone calls all showed that they cared about children. 
It has not been an easy path by any means and in the Maori Party we too have had our trials and challenges as we agitated over the significance of this bill to our nation. We were influenced greatly by our reluctance to intervene in the important role of parenting. Our whole approach to whanau development has always been that we look to support the self-determining capacity of whanau to care for themselves. But we reminded ourselves that the State has exercised power over the family long before this bill saw daylight through parental obligations education health and other matters. We have and continue to have significant concerns about the role and the capability of the police to be able to act in ways that support a climate of non-violence. We were adamant that we did not want to do anything that would create fear or exacerbate bias particularly when we recognise the disproportionate and ongoing injustices experienced by Maori. These are concerns that must be listened to and we will continue to look for every opportunity to ensure justice is attained. But ultimately we made up our minds in our united pursuit of our kaupapa and in our vision for a nation that allows children to explore their world without fear of violence or of being hurt. We believe that statements of aspiration are important in encouraging whanau to create and maintain violence-free homes. 
So it is with the vision of the Maori Party the vision of this Parliament and the vision of this nation that we made our stand to speak up to protect children. I want to end with the words of a waiata that one nanny sent to me asking me to think of this song as we voted to repeal section 59 of the Crimes Act. If I could sing I would sing it: 
I believe the children are our future 
Teach them well and let them lead the way 
Show them all the beauty they possess inside 
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier 
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be. 
That is the very least that we owe the children of this country. Noreira tenakoutou tenakoutou tenatatou.