KEY POINTS:
Voters will get the chance to give their verdict on the anti-smacking law when a public referendum is held on the issue next year.
Opponents of the law yesterday secured approval for the referendum that looks likely to re-open the bitter debate about whether parents should be able
to use force to discipline their children.
As many as 310,000 voters have signed a petition to trigger the referendum, a number that backers say demonstrates the strength of opposition to the law.
"The anti-smacking law has failed miserably," Family First NZ national director Bob McCoskrie said.
"You know a law is flawed when it fails to address the problem it was supposed to, and implicates good families in the process."
The legislation, now 14 months old, was passed in Parliament by 113 votes to 8.
The law, devised and promoted by Green MP Sue Bradford, was amended at the last minute when Prime Minister Helen Clark and National Party leader John Key reached a rare compromise agreement.
The Government is resisting calls to hold the referendum in tandem with the upcoming general election and is set to instead hold a postal ballot in the middle of next year.
There are obvious political reasons for Labour not wanting the issue to re-ignite at election time - it could cost the party votes - but Justice Minister Annette King also has advice from Chief Electoral Officer Robert Peden that a postal ballot be held.
That recommendation refers to the experience of 1999, when two referendums were held with the general election, causing long delays in vote-counting, confusion among voters, and congestion at polling booths.
Ms King last night dismissed calls to hold the referendum earlier.
"The Chief Electoral Officer has advised me the same problems would occur this year if the referendum was held at the same time as the general election," she said.
The referendum will ask: "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?"
But even if the law gets a harsh review from the public, it could remain unchanged regardless of who leads the next government.
Mr Key last night said he felt the law was working.
"We think the compromise amendment has allowed the law to operate better than it would have otherwise.
"Our position is that we're not going to change the law unless we see evidence it's not working."
Cases pending under the law include that of Christchurch musician James Mason, 49, who is awaiting trial on charges of assaulting his two sons.
Mason complained publicly after police warned him about allegedly flicking one son's ear for riding his bike dangerously in December last year.
He was later charged over the incident.
A 33-year-old Masterton man was the first person to be convicted under the anti-smacking law.
He was punished with nine months' supervision and ordered to undertake parenting and anger-management courses.
The man, whose name was suppressed, smacked his 8-year-old son three times on the bottom for misbehaving at school.
WHAT NEXT
* The referendum will not be held as part of the election; it will be a postal ballot held in the middle of next year.
* The result will be non-binding, meaning the Government will be able to ignore it if it wants to.
THE QUESTION
* "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?"
