Petition for Election Day referendum on smacking

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: Family First presented 60,000 new signatures to Parliament today in an attempt to force a referendum on the anti-smacking law.

The group's petition failed in April as it needed 280,275 signatures to force a referendum but fell short after about 18,000 were excluded because they were either illegible, the signatory's date of birth could not be confirmed, or involved people signing multiple times.

Today's petition comes just over a year since Sue Bradford's controversial legislation was passed.

National director of Family First Bob McCoskrie said the extra "stack' of signatures on the petition opposing the anti-smacking law had confirmed politicians failed to listen to the voice of the people.

"If the purpose of the law was not to ban smacking, as promised by the Prime Minister before the last election then the law should explicitly state this," he said.

"It should not be left open to potential persecution of parents through complaints by schools, members of public and children, and investigations by police and CYFS."

Green MP Sue Bradford called on political parties and the voting public to reject calls to turn back the clock.

"I am of course aware, as the petition shows, that there are still all too many people who believe that the right of parents to physically assault their children in the name of discipline is more important than the right of babies and children to grow up free from violence," she said.

A New Zealand Health Survey conducted between October 2006 and November last year found physical punishment was one of the least used forms of discipline with about five per cent of all primary caregivers surveyed agreeing smacking to be an effective form of discipline.

Mr McCroskie said Family First was calling on the politicians to amend the law so that good parents were not criminalised for reasonable and appropriate correction of children.

"We are now seeing clear evidence of good parents being prosecuted in courts for correcting their children in ways that were promised would not be caught under the new law," he said.

Ms Bradford said anecdotal and research based evidence had shown that over the past couple of years increasing numbers of New Zealanders had turned away from using violence in bringing up their children.

"If New Zealand were to reverse last year's law change, we would be an international disgrace among the other 22 nations who have put child protection above parents' rights to assault their children," she said.