Gordon Copeland Press Release
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, 31st July 2007

Band-Aid solutions not enough when it comes to child abuse

Independent MP Gordon Copeland believes that the Government’s Band-Aid approach to child abuse represents a massive policy failure that needs to be changed and fast.

“When it comes to child abuse the evidence clearly points to the root cause as being the break down of the family unit,” said Mr Copeland.

“Fatherlessness is now endemic in New Zealand and nowhere more so than amongst Maori. Some 55% of all Maori children are in fact growing up without a dad at home. That needs to change.”

“It is actually hard to think of a recent child abuse case in New Zealand where the offender was the biological father of the child. Typically the abuse is carried out by a male who is the boyfriend of the child’s mother.”

“We need a fence at the top of the cliff approach. Ideally this would involve government subsidies for courses addressing fatherhood, marriage preparation, marriage enrichment and parenting courses across the spectrum from prenatal to teenage years.”

“Courses need to be delivered at the grass roots level and specifically targeted to reach those who most need them; especially young Maori males.”

“The School Curriculum could also play a part. In the Netherlands, for example, during the senior years of high school male students attend courses on ‘what it means to be a Dutch man' whilst their female companions attend similar courses on ‘what it means to be a Dutch woman’.”

“The overarching policy goal should be a total transformation of family life in New Zealand so that all children are raised in a safe, loving and caring environment – ideally by a married couple.”

“All of this is really just commonsense. It was clear to practically everyone except the ideological zealots that Sue Bradford’s Smacking Bill would have absolutely no impact at all on the rates of child abuse in New Zealand. The Bill is trite and superficial in the extreme and it is time to look at evidence based policies which get down to the underlying realities if New Zealand’s shameful record on child abuse is going to be changed.”

ENDS

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