Saturday, August 22, 2009
If you break the law we`ll make sure you don't get prosecuted
This is what I think John Key will tell Cabinet tomorrow.
He will advise that the law surrounding smacking should not be changed. Instead he will instruct police and CYFS not to prosecute or investigate cases of light smacking. [Update: well, not before they report every case of smacking to the Government]. This will not reassure parents because he has said this before and one parent got convicted for smacking, with others getting prosecuted.
Our panty-waisted Prime Minister just hasn't got the balls to change the law. We expect Parliament to pass laws in line with democratic interests, not pass policy. The referendum asked whether smacking should be a criminal offence, not whether parents should be prosecuted or investigated by police or CYFS.
Parents want to live within the law, not to break the law in the knowledge that they wont be hassled.What John Key is effectively doing is putting a used condom over the law to provide added protection. It won't work. It is also undemocratic as the public don't want that. They want to parent within the law and smack their children in the knowledge that such as smack is not a criminal offence.
If we can break a criminal law passed by Parliament with the explicit intention, after an overwhelming referendum ,that it will not be upheld, I guess we can break other laws too - perhaps small amounts of shoplifting will be fine, especially in a recession. After all shoplifting laws are working well, aren't they? And shoplifting, like smacking, can also happen in the supermarket.
Any other suggestions welcome.
