child discipline

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Hiding to nothing

Written By: - Date published: 3:06 pm, June 23rd, 2009 - 25 comments

Did anyone else detect a whiff of desperation in Family Fist’s PR offensive today championing the case of a man who lost control and repeatedly shoved his son to the ground because he refused to play in a rugby game? I mean, is this really the best they’ve got? A grown man who’s lost his […]

The mask slips

Written By: - Date published: 8:44 pm, June 22nd, 2009 - 102 comments

The child beating lobby launched its “Vote No” campaign site today. They’ve worked hard in this campaign to present themselves as regular Kiwis standing up for common sense values, so I find it interesting they’ve chosen to decorate the front page of their campaign with this racist, sexist cartoon: The cartoon is clearly designed to […]

Do citizens-initiated referenda hamper democracy?

Written By: - Date published: 11:39 am, June 18th, 2009 - 23 comments

It’s hard to argue with the idea of referenda. What could be more democratic than citizens deciding precisely what issues the New Zealand public should consider, and taking a vote on them? Won’t that process get people thinking, encourage participation in the democratic process and make politics more accessible? Isn’t it the kind of democracy […]

Still voting yes

Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, June 18th, 2009 - 86 comments

I fully understand the political reasons for both Key and Goff not voting in the upcoming referendum. Neither want to have an official position that either puts them on the side of the child-beaters and against a law they recently voted for, or that puts them on the side that may well be heavily defeated. […]

Baldock gets a smacking

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, June 17th, 2009 - 97 comments

The folks at The Yes Vote point to a hilarious exchange this morning between Sean Plunket and Larry Baldock on Morning Report. Challenged repeatedly to come up with one single example of a parent who has been criminalised for smacking a child, Baldock fudged, then fudged some more, and then rounded it off with some […]

Child beating lobby finished

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, June 16th, 2009 - 54 comments

Here’s a tip for the child beaters at Family Fist – if you’re going to whip up a storm of fear and misinformation about a piece of legislation you don’t like, don’t peg your hopes on waiting two years for a referendum to get your revenge. That’s just enough time for your entire dishonest campaign […]

Boniface hits the mark

Written By: - Date published: 9:21 am, June 10th, 2009 - 9 comments

From Linley Boniface in the Dom 0n Monday: …My kids love hearing about the teacher who used to soak his strap in warm water every morning; about the uncle who was regularly caned on the back of the legs for refusing to get a haircut; about the family friend whose secondary school had a tradition […]

Your Views hits new low

Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, May 20th, 2009 - 21 comments

The Herald is currently asking its readers: “Is a conviction appropriate for punching a child?” Seriously, what the hell is wrong at the Herald when they think that’s a question that needs to be asked?

‘Punch in the face’ dad guilty

Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, May 20th, 2009 - 90 comments

What’s wrong with The Herald? Their articles Jimmy Mason on the father who punched his child in the face – and pulled him by the ear, and picked him and his brother up on their bikes and slammed them down – has described him as the ‘ear-flick’ father. The headline today is ‘Ear flick father […]

Vote Yes

Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, April 20th, 2009 - 33 comments

Why are the questions in citizens-initiated referenda always written by idiots? You want people to vote for your cause, right? So frame the question so people who agree with your position tick the ‘yes’ box. Simple? But they keep getting it backwards. Remember the first one? “Should the number of professional firefighters employed full time […]

The Standard line: Nanny State

Written By: - Date published: 10:11 am, October 31st, 2008 - 32 comments

So, you’re talking with someone about politics and they say something really dumb and wrong and you know it’s wrong but you don’t have the arguments and facts at your fingertips to make a decisive point. That’s where our election series, The Standard line, comes in. The info you need in bite-size form. Today: Nanny State  […]

Beastly

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, August 25th, 2008 - 57 comments

[I do love the idea that someone would go to the zoo merely to hurl insults at the apes]

TVNZ7 ad

Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, July 2nd, 2008 - 13 comments

TVNZ7 have some great content. Looks like some serious effort’s going into their advertising as well. Here’s one that caught my attention the other day. If your eyesight’s anything like mine you might want to click for a larger version.

Key’s principled stand

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, June 27th, 2008 - 46 comments

A good cartoon by Mike Moreu this morning about Key’s confusing stance on the smacking referendum. Though of course, as a_y_b pointed out yesterday, this approach isn’t at all confusing if all you’re trying to do is to win an election by accentuating and exploiting negative perceptions of your opponent.

Ministry advised against concurrent referendum/election

Written By: - Date published: 11:15 am, June 26th, 2008 - 44 comments

In line with Ministry of Justice advice, the Government has decided not to hold the child discipline referendum at the same time as the election. You can read the entire advice document here: Holding a referendum at the same time as the general election is not recommended because  “From 1999, we know that voters would […]

No consistency needed

Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, June 26th, 2008 - 12 comments

Colin Espiner’s just posted an entry headed “National’s position on smacking confusing”. It is – but only if you’re expecting philosophical consistency. Key’s approach isn’t at all confusing if all you’re trying to do is to win an election by accentuating and exploiting negative perceptions of your opponent. For the time being, this is National’s […]

Farrar’s company, Curia, polls for Family First

Written By: - Date published: 1:32 pm, May 29th, 2008 - 16 comments

I’d thought at the time that it seemed a little odd for David Farrar to pass up a free hit regarding the Family First commissioned study on smacking. The headline in Granny Herald was: “Poll shows we’re still smacking our children”. What an opportunity! Turns out though, that it was Farrar’s company, Curia, that did […]

Bring back the bash?

Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, May 15th, 2008 - 74 comments

A man has been convicted of assault for hitting his daughter because she was dating a Muslim. You can’t assault someone, the law worked. Good, right? OK. Now, let’s imagine that this had taken a place a year ago and the daughter, who is 20 years old, was 15 instead and, so, a child in […]

Child beating petition falls short

Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, April 29th, 2008 - 95 comments

Family First’s petition for a referendum on reversing the amendment to s59 of the Crimes Act that removed the defence of reasonable force for assault on a child (try saying that three times fast) has failed to get enough signatures. It needed 280,275 signatures and seemed to have enough but the Office of the Clerk […]

Join the smackathon

Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, April 15th, 2008 - 56 comments

Just what you may have been waiting for: www.righttosmack.co.nz While we want the government to interfere with people’s private activities to some small degree; (outlawing homosexuality, stopping abortions, abolishing civil unions, abolishing legalised prostitution, etc.) – we will not tolerate being told we cannot use force and violence as part of loving correction and discipline! […]

Peas in a pod: Family Fist, National, DPF

Written By: - Date published: 4:10 pm, February 26th, 2008 - 55 comments

National Party blogger David Farrar points to a criticism of the repeal of s59 by Sacha Coburn (“a Christchurch businesswoman, lawyer and mother”): The Government should read this column and be afraid… The whole column is worth a read. And Sacha Coburn will not be an exception – there will be many more like her […]

Katherine’s tangible policy presence

Written By: - Date published: 10:05 pm, February 16th, 2008 - 11 comments

It’s been a few days now since the announcement of Katherine Rich’s decision to stand down from politics, but articles such as in today’s NZ Herald continue to try and explain “why”. Perhaps they also have that sense that her departure could be a turning point, the significance eluding us until we’re further down the […]

Family Fist

Written By: - Date published: 5:45 pm, January 29th, 2008 - 57 comments

Mike Moreu from The Press is shaping up to be quite a fine cartoonist. Here’s his take on the Religious Right’s petition to restore the riding crop lady‘s right to beat her children. Meanwhile the folks over at Newzblog have done a great send-up of the increasingly incoherent Garth McVicar from Sensible Sentencing and the […]

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