Of course, it’s not 88% of New Zealanders who voted “no”. It’s 88% of people who felt strongly enough about the issue and thought the question was meaningful enough to go to the trouble voting at all. So about half of eligible voters. Slightly more than the proportion of New Zealanders who watched the season [...]
I won’t bore you with a rehash of what makes the current referendum question ridiculous. That’s been well covered by just about everyone in the country – except, presumably, those who signed the petition in the first place. The stupidity of the wording is perhaps befuddling, until one considers the original timing. Family First’s petition [...]
Well, it wasn’t Mark replying, I’m sure. On Close-Up on TV One last night, there was a discussion panel about the controversial anti-smacking bill repeal of Section 59. It included Sue Bradford, Hone Harawira, some guy who collected a petition against the repeal, and… Promise Keeper Simon Barnett. For some reason I’m certain he’s a [...]
Repeal would simply mean that children and adults would be the same in the eyes of the law in regard to assault. If section 59 is eventually fully repealed children will no longer be the only group in society who can be legally assaulted. Mild assaults (so-called little smacks) will not result in complaints to [...]