Maori urged to vote 'yes'

BY MICHELLE DUFF

If Maori are a noble people, they will vote against being able to smack little children, the head of a Maori family violence group says.

Hone Kaa, the chairman of Te Kahui Mana Ririki which promotes the status of young Maori visited Palmerston North to urge local Maori to vote in the upcoming smacking referendum.

Dr Kaa said yesterday it was imperative Maori not be duped by the question, which asks: "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?".

They should vote yes, he said.

"I think the question is totally misguided and misleading, because it links smacking with good parental control, which it is not.

"You cannot smack another adult without being brought before the law, so why should adults be given the right to smack little children?"

Since Te Kahui Mana Ririki was formed in 2007, Dr Kaa has been travelling around the country advocating safe parenting. Though violence was a national issue, his role was to talk specifically to Maori, he said.

"Violence is not a good way to live, and whatever you say, smacking a child is part of a continuum of violence.

"It may be at the lesser end, but it contributes to the idea `if my mum or dad hit me, I can use violence in turn'. Violence begets violence; there is a better way of doing things."

This required a mindshift for many, who had been conditioned to use a smack as a means of discipline, Dr Kaa said.

"But it's our children, it's our mokopuna, that we have to protect. If being Maori means being a noble people, we need to express our nobility by encouraging our children to love."

Very few people had been before the courts in the two years since the defence of reasonable force for smacking was removed. This was because the police had used discretion in prosecuting, he said.

And the law was working.

"It's a reminder to you of your responsibilities, not only to the child but to yourself."

"People should vote yes, because until people can learn to discipline themselves, then it is absolutely necessary for laws to exist, because these are the mechanisms that produce change. It's a pity we have to use legislation to do that."

The $9 million the referendum is to cost would have been better used in the child-abuse sector, he said.

THE STATISTICS

Maori children are four times more likely to be hospitalised as the result of deliberately-inflicted physical harm.

Maori are twice as likely to experience abuse as other groups.

New Zealand has the third highest rate of infanticide in the OECD, with about a third being Maori deaths.

For the period 1991-2000, the profile of a child most at risk was under 1, male and Maori.

Rates are trending slightly downwards. Data is from Te Kahui Mana Ririki.

THE REFERENDUM DEFENDED

Before the election last year, opponents of the anti-smacking law change collected enough signatures on a petition to force a $9 million referendum.

It is to be held by postal ballot from July 31 to August 21.

Organised by Kiwi Party leader Larry Baldock and Family First director Bob McCoskrie, the referendum asks: "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?"

Critics say the question is leading, as it implies that people who do not smack are not good parents and that smacking will end up in prosecution.

Family First director Bob McCoskrie said yesterday New Zealanders had no problem understanding the referendum question.

He said claims that it was misleading and ambiguous were an expression of frustration from politicians who introduced the "flawed" law in the first place.

"The squeals of horror coming from the politicians is not because of the question asked, but because of the answer that they come to no!"

Politicians owed it to good parents to get the law right, he said.

Who says yes (anti-smacking):

Barnados, Plunket, Unicef, Save the Children, Te Kahui Mana Ririki, Women's Refuge, Childspace, Parent Centres, the Families Commission and Children's Commission.

Who says no (pro-smacking):

Family First, Kiwi Party, ACT leader Rodney Hide.

- © Fairfax NZ News