Keep anti-smacking law, urges children's advocate

New Zealanders should vote "yes" in a coming referendum to keep anti-smacking legislation as it stands, says Maori children's advocate Hone Kaa.

A postal referendum, which will ask the question: "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?", will take place between July 31 and August 21.

Dr Kaa, chairman of Te Kahui Mana Ririki, urged people to vote "yes" and support maintaining the current law to protect children from violence in the home .

"Maori children are twice as likely to be abused as other groups, and around half the children killed as the result of abuse in this country are Maori.

"Smacking sits on a continuum of violent behaviours against children and this includes the maiming and killing of our young ones.

"We must eradicate all of these behaviours."

Te Kahui Mana Ririki is a member of the Yes Vote Coalition, which includes Barnardos, Plunket, Unicef, Save the Children, Women's Refuge and Parent Centres.

Coalition spokeswoman Deborah Morris-Travers said that the referendum question was misleading because it "falsely equates smacking with good parenting".

"The law sets a standard that states violence against children is unacceptable," she said.

"This is particularly important in a country with such high rates of violence against children."

The referendum was prompted by a petition which 310,000 registered voters signed.

To trigger a referendum, 10 per cent of registered voters (285,000) need to sign it.

The Government has discretion whether to look at the law again regardless of the outcome of the referendum.

Meanwhile, family violence expert Helen Hickling, of the Child Protection Studies Trust in Hamilton, said that New Zealand rated fourth worst among OECD countries for domestic violence.

This was only marginally better than in 2004, when New Zealand was third worst, and there needed to be a major attitudinal change to the issue, she told a community forum on domestic violence in Hastings.

It was good that the police, the Ministry of Education and early childhood educators were working together to help preschoolers, shesaid.

The next step was to properly train all health and education professionals in recognising and responding to child abuse.

- NZPA