Transtasman on Smacking Bill

Transtasman may not be a well known publication to those outside the “beltway”. It is a weekly newsletter on politics, economics, legislation and trade. A 50 year veteran of the press gallery, Ian Templeton is Senior Editor, and the publisher and editor-in-chief is Max Bowden. It is widely anticipated and read around Parliament and other subscribers. I receive a complimentary copy for which I am most grateful.

Their take on the smacking bill is dead on, so I hope they do not mind me sharing it with a wider audience:

It should not, one would have thought, have been beyond the ability of our Parliamentarians to come up with a law which says a slap on the hand or bum with the open hand is OK, and anything else is not. But it looks like they can’t manage that.

Hear hear.

Much of the debate on the Bill has been marked by its irrelevance. Bradford herself kicked this off when she introduced the Bill by arguing it is a blow against colonialism. Corporal punishment, she said, was imported with the missionaries and their bibles. What this does tell you, apart from its dubious history, is this is very much an ideological battle which has little to do with protecting children. The other irrelevancy, of course, is this is something to do with child abuse.

Indeed.

On the other side, though, the debate has been championed by some of the more zealous Christian groups. There is not a press gallery journalist who has not been bombarded with messages about how the Bill is a Satanist-lesbian-communist plot. The lip-smacking glee with which some of these types talk about whacking their kids is rather disturbing, and doesn’t exactly help the cause of moderation.

I can’t disagree with that either. People have been too extreme on both sides.

As for whether it will pass, well that depends on Labour. Reports are emerging that if there was a true conscience vote on the bill, the Borrows amendment would pass, and/or the bill would fail. The six to eight Labour MPs who are being whipped to vote for it (and breaking the whip in Labour is an offence which can lead to expulsion) against their wishes are going to be under huge pressure. Some of them suspect they could lose their seat on it. If the bill passes, it will be due to Helen Clark not Sue Bradford.