Anti Smacking Bill now passed

The anti-smacking bill has now passed and once it gets royal assent the Crimes Act will be amended to remove the defence of of reasonable force for parental correction. It replace it with reasaonble force for the purpose of stopping a crime, preventing harm, preventing offensive or disruptive behaviour and good parenting so long as it is not correctional. And with the Clark/Key compromise an explicit statement that Police can use discretion when the offence is inconsequential and a prosecution would not in the public interest.

It passed 113-8. Those against were two from ACT, Gordon Copeland, Judy Turner, Taito Phillip Field and in a hilarious attempt at populism, four NZ First MPs.

I still regard the bill as pretty flawed law, and suspect it will have to be revisited at some stage. The compromise did provide some welcome direction to the Police and should hopefully see the Police avoid Subway type trivial prosecutions in this area. But for me the concern was never prosecution but more how CYFS could use the law, and the possibility of couples going through a divorce using it as a tool in custody battles etc.