Reject Boscawens bill

A Member’s Bill to define violence against children is unnecessary and dangerous, Green Party MP Sue Bradford said today.

“I call on all parties in Parliament to unilaterally reject John Boscawen’s bill amending the Crimes Act – it’s not necessary and not desirable,” Ms Bradford said.

The ACT MP’s bill was drawn from the Members’ Bill ballot today, five days after a child discipline referendum result was made public, and two days after the Prime Minister announced the Government’s response.

“The current law is working well and the Police are not prosecuting good parents,” Ms Bradford said.

“We do not want legislation that tries to define the level of violence that parents can and cannot use on their babies and children. That option was given thorough consideration and utterly rejected when the law was first changed.”

The Boscawen amendment would re-legalise assault, Ms Bradford noted, and put New Zealand’s children into a more dangerous position than before Section 59 of the Crimes Act was changed in 2007.

“I do not believe that New Zealanders want to move into a future where the state defines the level of violence acceptable to use against children when most of us these days believe that any form of domestic violence ‘is not OK’,” Ms Bradford said.

The proposed bill was a return to the Dark Ages, said Ms Bradford.