Smacking cash should go to CYF, says English

The Government has lost all sense of priority in dealing with child abuse and should scrap its $11.8 million smacking education programme, National Party leader Bill English says.

Mr English yesterday quoted a Weekend Herald poll showing 70 per cent support for the present smacking law as evidence of misplaced priorities.

He said the case of slain Featherston schoolgirl Coral Burrows was proof Child, Youth and Family (CYF) was struggling.

CYF last week admitted it had received a phone call from Coral's father, Ron Burrows, in January, outlining his concerns about Coral and her brother.

Mr English called for money set aside for the anti-smacking campaign to be diverted to help CYF.

"A four-year multimillion-dollar campaign telling parents not to smack their children isn't giving CYF the resources it needs, or training and retaining its social workers."

CYF is holding an urgent investigation into the handling of the Burrows call and whether the incident is symptomatic of wider problems in the department.

The partner of Coral's mother, Steven Williams, has been charged with Coral's murder.

CYF said in its annual report that child abuse and neglect in the year to June 30 hit an all-time high - up 15 per cent - at 31,781 notifications of possible cases.

Mr English said Labour should save its dollars and efforts for those children in real need.

"That appears to be the view of many New Zealanders, too, with a weekend poll showing that nearly 70 per cent of people think the current smacking law is adequate."

Section 59 of the Crimes Act allows parents to use reasonable force to discipline their children, including smacking.

A Herald-DigiPoll survey published on Saturday found that 70 per cent of people think the present law is adequate.

Of those, almost all think it reasonable in some circumstances to lightly smack a child.

* 8.5 per cent said it was all right in some circumstances to use a strap or a belt.

* 4.2 per cent thought it reasonable to smack a child hard enough to leave a bruise.

* 2.4 per cent thought it reasonable to use something hard such as a piece of wood.

* 1 per cent thought it reasonable to hit a child about the head.

Of those who believed the law was inadequate - 27.2 per cent of the sample - 60 per cent said this was because it allowed too much parental violence.

The United Nations has called for a change to the law.

Ministers had planned to run a publicity campaign on alternatives to smacking, then formally review the law in 2005.

- NZPA