MEDIA RELEASE
5 APRIL 2006
Children’s Commission should be scrapped
The Children’s Commissioner is confused.
On one hand she wants smacking banned because children should be treated like adults. On the other hand, she does not
support Ron Mark’s Young Offenders (Serious Crimes) Bill because “all young people would be dealt with in the adult
court.”
This confused thinking proves that the Children’s Commission should be closed because it does not act in the best
interests of young people.
It consistently advocates for young people to not realise the consequences of their actions and to be treated softly –
yet most adults know that they did not achieve anything in life with “soft”consequences.
Ron Mark’s Bill wants to deal with serious crime committed by young offenders. The young offenders are currently being
dealt with by family group conferences and community service. Ron Mark wants to put a bit of a healthy “fear of God”
into these serious offenders so that they will consider whether it is in their best interests to continue this lifestyle
of crime.
The latest crime statistics has emphasized that the current PC experiment of “talking” to young offenders and informing
them of their rights is not working. Youth gangs, alcohol and drug offences, assaults on teachers, and violent fights
are all on the increase amongst our youth. Let’s get back to the basics of what worked when the Children’s Commission
wasn’t around.
The Children’s Commission has been hijacked by faulty ideology and should be scrapped – for the sake of our children!
ENDS