KEY POINTS:
A bamboo cane allegedly used to discipline a child is for sale on Trade Me to the horror of anti-smacking campaigner Sue Bradford.
"The cane that changed the law" is being offered by a Timaru-based vendor, who is selling the item on behalf of another party.
There are three bids on the cane, the highest of which is $5 and the reserve price has been met. The auction closes on August 3.
The woman who allegedly used the cane was acquitted in 2005 of assaulting her 13-year-old son with a riding crop and a bamboo cane. Her name was suppressed.
"It's a real tragedy that something that's been used to beat a child is being glorified and sold for profit," Ms Bradford was quoted by the Dominion Post newspaper as saying.
The seller says in the blurb for the auction that now the law has changed the cane needs to find a new purpose in life.
- NZPA
