MEDIA RELEASE
8 September 2009

Smacking Panel Must See the Real Evidence

Family First NZ is welcoming the appointment of Nigel Latta to the s59 Review Process but is concerned by his comments that he will not be meeting with any lobby groups.

“Nigel Latta has said ‘I did not agree with the original law change. I also voted no in the referendum. I do not believe that a parent smacking their child, in the ‘common sense’ understanding of what that means, should be subject to criminal prosecution or investigation’. That is a breath of fresh air, completely politically incorrect, and suggests that he will represent the concerns of NZ parents when he reviews the effect of the law,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“However, we are hugely concerned that he ‘will not be meeting with, corresponding with, or entering into discussions with, any lobby groups’. Family First has been documenting substantive evidence of good families being investigated and prosecuted as a result of the law, and it is essential that Latta meet these families and view the evidence.”

“If the Review committee is simply going to view reports of the police and CYF, which have attempted to mask the real effect of this law, then nothing will be achieved and we will be back to square one – a flawed law rejected by NZ’ers but marketed by government groups.”

Family First is inviting Nigel Latta to meet parents negatively impacted by the anti-smacking law.

ENDS

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