She's not a very popular lady, with 87.4% of Kiwis opposed to her Anti-Smacking law which the Prime Minister continues to support. The majority of MPs are also in disagreement with the law which criminalises good parents who use reasonable force for the purpose of correcting their children - though they are unable to state this publically. And of course her own colleagues in the Green Party are sick and tired of the smacking issue and want to rebrand and move on to other issues. Refusing Bradford the position of co-leader after the announcement of Fitzsimons' retirement was quite likely a hint from the caucus that it was time for her to pack her bags.
"I’ll be going back to the grassroots”
"The men that are anti this bill are sexual perverts and get a kick out of hitting children" - Stuff, NZ Herald
"Smacking has never been a criminal offence, and still isn't" - Scoop
"Parents need to accept that it is no longer legal to hit children." - Newstalk ZB
I think this is actually another weakness in the MMP system. Parties don't have to worry about list mp's resigning, as the next on the list just fills the spot.
ReplyDeleteSue was elected for a 3 year term. List MP's should be forced to stick it out, unless there is a very serious reason.
I agree - regulations and guidelines around list MPs need to be reviewed. Ideally, a list MP's only role in parliament would be catering.
ReplyDeleteCan you please stop stating that 87% of New Zealanders voted against the smacking law...only 54% of voters turned up to vote, and that wasn't even the question the referendum asked. You are a 22 year old single young man, please explain to me the obssession with other peoples rights to "smack" their children??
ReplyDeleteThe polls since 2005 averaged out show that 82.9% of Kiwis are opposed to the Anti-Smacking law, so while the referendum question didn't directly ask about the law, the sentimets are quite clear.
ReplyDeleteMore people voted NO, than voted in the new Government. Most Colmar Bruntan polls etc, are taken with 1,000 respondents and generally taken to be pretty well representative - so a poll of 1.6 million is going to be very close to reality.
Does being a 22yr old single male in any way disqualify me from expressing myself on any subject I should choose?
I'm slightly baffled here. How on earth can one have the audacity to challenge one's freedom of speech based on their age?
ReplyDeleteLearn a bit of statistics and you will quickly realize that an independent random sample of 30 is big enough to gauge opinion on a subject and apply the findings to the whole population.
so glad she's gone. Celebration time..
ReplyDelete