Press Release Monday April 16th 4pm.
CIR Petition Passes Half-Way Mark In Only 6 Weeks
CIR Petition coordinator Larry Baldock announced today that the petition to force a referendum on the Sue Bradford's
Anti-Smacking Bill had passed the halfway point towards the required target of 300,000 signatures.
As of today, 150,745 signatures had been received on Sheryl Savill's Citizens Initiated Referendum on the question,
"should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?
The law allows twelve months to collect the required 300,000 signatures.
"To have arrived at the halfway mark after only six weeks must make this the fastest petition gathering exercise in the
history of the CIR Act, and needless to say all of us involved are very encouraged by the support we have received from
all over the country," he said.
"While the supporters of Sue Bradord's HOME INVASION, ANTI CORRECTION, ANTI-SMACKING Bill continue to argue about the
accuracy of all the polls that have been conducted that show an overwhelming majority of opposition to her bill, we can
confidently say we are going to be able to require a referendum to be held at the next election. There will be no
disputing that result and politicians would be unwise to continue to ignore the voice of those who elected them into
parliament," said Mr Baldock.
ENDS