MEDIA RELEASE
21 May 2009
Anti-Smacking Law ‘Has Made No Difference’ –Law Society
Family First NZ says that the Law Society has admitted that the anti-smacking law has made no difference to NZ’s
unacceptable rate of child abuse.
Chair of the Family Law Section of the Law Society Paul Maskell was asked on a radio interview this week whether the law
has done anything to reduce child abuse from the perspective of the legal profession. He responded ‘we haven’t noticed
any change at all…The change in law really has made no difference’. He agreed that abusers don’t even know what the law
is and don’t really care.
“This is backed up by an online poll of 3,829 people on the NZ Herald website yesterday which showed that 89% believed
that the anti-smacking law had had no effect on child abuse, Curia Market Research in March where 77% believed that the
law change would not reduce the rate of child abuse, and 87% of respondents on a littlies.co.nz website last year who
felt the law was ineffective,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.
“The underlying issues identified by UNICEF and CYF - including drug and alcohol abuse, family breakdown and
dysfunction, and poverty and stress - continue to be ignored. Green MP Sue Bradford admitted that the law was never
intended to solve the problem of child abuse.”
“We want the problem of child abuse tackled but it’s time we got realistic about the causes, and the actual families at
risk,” says Mr McCoskrie. “People who opposed the law simply want some honesty in the debate, and laws targeted at the
real causes.”
ENDS