Gallagher Martin: Crimes (Abolition of Force as a Justification for Child Discipline) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Gallagher Martin: Crimes (Abolition of Force as a Justification for Child Discipline) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:627;Page:22098] 
MARTIN GALLAGHER (Labour—Hamilton West) 
: 
 As the member of Parliament for Hamilton West I wish to commit to  
Hansard  
an open letter to all members of Parliament from the Parentline Charitable Trust written by the directors chief executive Maxine Hodgson and Gayle McLean. That is a truly mainstream organisation and the two people I alluded to as the directors of the organisation are exceptionally mainstream. 
This is what they say: “To the public of New Zealand the repeal of this law is not an anti-smacking issue; it is an anti-bashing issue. Parentline was asked to comment by the  
New Zealand 
Herald -  
DigiPoll on the complex question put to the New Zealand public regarding the repeal of section 59 of the Crimes Act. When quoted the question by the reporter I commented that the question was confusing and complex. From Parentline’s clients’ comments Parentline staff and peers plus participants in the recent Parentline child summit in Hamilton last week it is noted that the repeal of section 59 is welcomed. The children the experts tell Parentline staff of the pain fear humiliation and anger that they feel when ‘given the bash’. Never has a child commented on a smack. New Zealand needs to repeal section 59 as soon as possible plus resource a comprehensive programme which addresses parenting issues finances health relationship problems etc. as well as parenting skills tantrums and sleep deprivation etc. In the 28 years’ experience of Parentline we find that parenting programmes that concentrate on the needs of children parenting skills without first addressing parenting needs parenting issues do not result in the best outcomes for the parent-child relationship.” 
I have heard a bit tonight about Sweden. Maybe in my city if we were a bit more like Sweden Kelly Gush would not have been taken alone to the Starship Children’s Hospital to die alone. If that tragic death along with many others in this country is to have any meaning I urge members to let this bill go to the select committee and let this Parliament address this serious issue. No doubt there will be members who will speak with forked tongue and who will deliberately try to misconstrue that— 
Paul Adams 
: What’s the connection? 
MARTIN GALLAGHER 
: The connection is simply this and I would like to quote from a very good mainstream member of this Parliament Brian Donnelly when he wrote in an article in the  
New Zealand Herald  
in 2001: “Section 59 of the Crimes Act not only gives protection to parents who smack their children; it also gives protection to parents who thrash their children with a piece of wood leaving serious bruising several days later as a recent case demonstrated.” If that is supposed to be family values then I do not think it is family values at all. What is the issue? The issue is that this Parliament will give a bill a first reading—no more no less. This Parliament will give a select committee an opportunity to address the issues in order to see where a reasonable balance lies. This Parliament in a democracy will give community groups and individual submitters from across the spectrum the opportunity to address this very important issue. 
In the mainstream Dr Cindy Kiro the Children’s Commissioner from the Office of the Commissioner for Children and Paul Baigent the chief executive of the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society have said: “Given New Zealand’s appalling child abuse rates it is important that as a nation we start talking about the violence against children and ensure that our laws and policies consistently seek to reduce the incidence of all forms of violence against children. We support the repeal of section 59 as an important step in this direction as it will remove the legal defence used by parents charged with assaulting their children. We do not believe repeal would criminalise parents who occasionally use physical punishment.” 
The Minister in an answer to a supplementary question I put to her today clearly said that it is not the Government’s intention to outlaw smacking but that we want a robust reasoned discussion at a select committee to find where the real balance is and to protect the rights both of parents—the good decent parents whom John Tamihere talked about—and of New Zealand’s children.