Posted October 6th, 2009

Letter to the Editor: Dargaville News & Kaipara Lifestyler

Letter to the Editor

What is Your Idea of Democracy?

Ever since Sue Bradford took it upon herself to impose the ‘Anti-Smacking Bill” on New Zealand the debate about the merits of this law has never died down.

Despite a relentless campaign by pressure groups to promote the ‘Anti-Smacking Bill’ and regular vilification of anybody who opposes it, the vast majority of New Zealanders have consistently and steadfastly said ‘NO’ to this law. Every opinion poll conducted before the Anti-Smacking Bill was ratified in Parliament showed without fail above 80% of New Zealanders opposed to outlawing smacking to correct and discipline a child. And how did our elected representatives in Wellington react to this overwhelming display of opposition? They ignored it! Even John Key, as leader of the opposition, declared in March 2007: “The Labour Government has shown utter contempt for New Zealanders and the democratic process with its plan to railroad the anti-smacking bill through Parliament…”  As we all know, Labour lost big in the last election because Kiwis got fed up with their ‘nanny-state-politics’ and Phil Goff just recently stated in the NZ Herald that “Labour made mistakes” and that the Anti-Smacking Bill was one of them.

Now, we even had a Citizens Initiated Referendum and despite all the politicking and manipulations, a huge majority of New Zealanders said “NO” again. Over 87% of voters do not believe that a ‘Smack as part of good parental correction should be a criminal offence’ – which according to the law, it is. But in an astonishing twist, it is now National and our Prime Minister John Key who are ignoring this strong conviction of New Zealanders “displaying contempt for New Zealanders and the democratic process”. As a coincident, only a few days after the referendum results were published, John Boscawen’s (ACT) Private Members Bill, which seeks to repeal Section 59 as it stands and allow parents to ‘lightly smack their children for correction & discipline’ was pulled out of the hat to be read in Parliament. Regrettably, only hours later our Prime Minister declared that National would not support this bill, missing an opportunity to support what is right in the view of the vast majority of New Zealanders and why he and National were elected to form our Government.

By now, it is not about the ‘Anti-Smacking Bill’ anymore, but about successive Governments ignoring the will of the people and the democratic process in general. If we, the people of New Zealand, let the Government get away with this, pandering to a small, albeit pushy and loud minority, we need not be surprised if we are getting more and more ignored by our elected representatives, who just say the right thing before an election and then renege on their promises in the hope we have forgotten about it when the next election comes around.

As concerned Citizens of Northland, where over 90% voted “NO”, we are holding a Public Meeting in the Town Hall in Dargaville on 12 October 2009 at 19:00 demanding to be taken seriously by our elected representatives and the ‘Anti-Smacking Bill’ to be changed. We have invited our local MP John Carter, as well as the Hon John Boscawen to present his Private Members Bill and Larry Baldock, the initiator of the original referendum and an advocate for strong, principle based families. If you voted “NO” in the referendum and feel ignored by our politicians, this is your opportunity to make a stand. But even if you voted “YES” in the Referendum you should be concerned, as next time, you could be part of the majority that is ignored.

For more details contact Peter on 021 685 597 or email info@kiwis4democracy.co.nz