• Full Story

Online debate - the smacking referendum

Email
Print

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:00a.m.

The smacking referendum starts this Friday and will continue for two weeks

The smacking referendum starts this Friday and will continue for two weeks

If you have registered to vote, the ballot forms for the Smacking Referendum should land in your letterbox on Friday.

The question being asked:

“Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?”

Controversy has dogged the referendum from the start, with both John Key and Phil Goff saying they would not be taking part as they believed the question was misleading.

The 3news.co.nz poll result below suggests that the country is divided on the matter:

Extended poll: Is the question in the smacking referendum misleading?

Yes        55%
No        42%
Don't know  3%

Questions have also been raised about the $9 million cost of the referendum.

Is this an acceptable cost for a non-binding referendum? Or are citizen-initiated referendums an essential part of our democratic process?

We are interested in your opinions on this matter. Which way are you going to vote? Do you think the whole thing is a waste of time or an excellent example of modern-day politics?

Campbell Live will be running a debate on the referendum on the Thursday evening show. Comments left here may well be used in the show – you can even leave a question that could be put to our panel.

To comment on the story log in the site and leave a comment in the box below. If you are not registered click on the box that says 'register' on the top right of the screen.

Alternatively, you can text ‘smack’ and your opinion/question to 3330 (texts cost 50c) to get straight through to the Campbell Live team.

James Murray - Chief Editor 3news.co.nz

If you want to see more stories about the smacking referendum before making your mind up click here.

Become a fan of 3 News on Facebook and on Twitter.

Post a Comment

Before commenting, please take the time to read our moderation guide


(Won't be published)



Comments

02 Sep 2009 10:54a.m.

Dunc wrote:

The government has every right to tell us how to raise our children. They are the government in power and they decide the law of the land. Just as they deem that all children must go to school, they can deem anything they like.

All states are nanny states and have been for a VERY LONG TIME. I wish these dreamers would stop talking of a time when they weren't.

Oh, and another fact for the 'old times were the better times' dreamers, murder and crime is no new invention. Shocking, I know, but murder has been around forever and no one government or state has yet figured out how to eradicate it. All we have are ideas and theories, since nothing in the past has worked all that well, I say we give the people who are forward thinking enough to stand up and give things a try the chance to put their plans into practice. Oh, guess what, that's democracy...

This law is a relatively new one and I am in no way surprised that there is a large faction out there who are anti it, particularly when they are egged on by 'old school' members of the media and politicians. But let's actually give it a chance, eh?

I'll leave you with this thought: Imagine the public outcry when gladiatorial battles were first banned by the Romans. Those events were so entrenched in society at the time that I doubt the change went down so well at all, but many years later we can see it was a change for the good.

Just because something worked well in the 1900s, doesn't make it our destiny.

Enjoy your day! It's a beautiful country out there...

01 Sep 2009 09:26p.m.

Ashley wrote:

This referendum is a waste of hard working tax payers. Making a law which states smacking is illegal isn't going to change anything, people are still going to do it. the government is in know position to tell us how to raise and discipline our children.

30 Aug 2009 09:56p.m.

Nick wrote:

For all those saying that the wording was rigged in order to get a good result, I'd advise you to read http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/other/pamphlets/2001/citizens_referenda.html and if you cant be bothered to click on the link "The Clerk has three months to determine the wording of the question."

28 Aug 2009 11:54a.m.

nigel wrote:

Now you are downgrading my statistics because they don’t fit with your position, scratching around a bit don’t you think. Care to define ‘good’ violence versus ‘bad’ violence? Or is it your position that violence is always bad?

27 Aug 2009 07:56p.m.

Err Nigel wrote:

I wouldn't trust a Geocities page. YOu realise they're amateur nonsense? My stats come from the United Nations. Yours from an amateur website which is being shut down (look it up). I know you probably looked really hard to find those stats to justify your position, but try harder. Violence begets more violence - the most violent states on earth are largely those with capital punishment. It all begins with smacking.

27 Aug 2009 04:44p.m.

nigel wrote:

According to this source the murder rate in Sweden is double the murder rate in New Zealand. http://www.geocities.com/tents444/geohomicide.htm#murd Perhaps cultural differences explain the lack of graffiti in Singapore but I think the Rotan cane might just have something to do with it.

27 Aug 2009 02:22p.m.

Brian wrote:

John keys needed help getting into the PM job last elections. How can he and his party ignore 88% of 1.600 000 voters, Thats 1.408 000 voters lets all tell him at the next elections. Or are our memories really that short.

27 Aug 2009 11:09a.m.

Hey Nigel wrote:

Stop spreading lies. The murder rate in Sweden in 2008 was 1.47 per 100,000 people. In NZ it is 2.00. That's considerably higher, and it has been so for the past decade, at least. Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo all have similarly low rates of homicide, yet widely varying laws and punishments - I'd suggest it's a cultural thing, not a law thing - considering the countries iwth the highest murder rates have death penalties and/or corporal punishment. Do some research before spouting off lies and half-truths.

27 Aug 2009 11:02a.m.

nigel wrote:

Have to differ on the Sweden thing; they do not grow up just fine. Their murder rate is double our own and that is a fact. In Singapore their murder rate is one of the lowest in the world wonder if it has anything to do with the corporal punishment they dish out. We have extraordinary amounts of crime and antisocial behavior in NZ. Corporal punishment in homes and in schools effectively controls antisocial behaviour. I would prefer it if the liberal non smacking approach worked but it is roundly ineffective. What has to happen for the non smackers to accept that violence is the only effective solution in some circumstances or will you cling dogmatically like drowning men to straws this noble ideal. The meek will not inherit the earth only get their asses kicked, turning the other cheek simply means you get whacked in the opposite one. If pacifism is the cousin of liberalism then your position is bankrupt as you deny the moral imperative of self defense, essentially what smacking is all about.

27 Aug 2009 08:23a.m.

Hmmm wrote:

To those people who say the law is an intrusion on how they bring up their children, what do you say to the thousands upon thousands of other laws that tell you how to bring up your kids? Why is it just this one that grinds your gears? If I brought up my kid to go in public nude, sacrifice animals and punch others in the face, should I be allowed to?