Thank you to Save the Children for the welcome here this evening – greetings to Minister Ruth Dyson and all my fellow MPs here tonight, and special greetings and acknowledgements to Beth, Ian, George and Robert for all the work you’ve put in on the book we’re launching here tonight, ‘Unreasonable Force.’

It is wonderful to be here with you this evening to celebrate and reflect on New Zealand’s journey towards banning the physical punishment of children. Beth, Ian, George and Robert have done a stunning job of looking back at how we got here, reminding us of the importance of this change - lighting the way for other countries, and showing us the work we still need to do.

It’s now almost 9 months since the introduction of the amended Section 59. The furore and concerns leading up to the passing of the Bill, so clearly articulated in this book, have abated somewhat, but as is all too apparent, those opposed to the law change have obviously not stopped their campaign.

I would like to briefly examine where we are at now.

The advocates of physical punishment say parents are currently being unfairly targeted: In November we had the father in Masterton who was convicted for “lightly smacking” his son. In the words of Bob McCroskie “the conviction was the result of a law that criminalised good parents for lightly smacking their children and had created a "paranoid parenting environment".

Then we had the father in Nelson who hit his son with a wooden spoon as part of what he saw as his Christian duty. And then of course we’ve seen the most recent case of the Christchurch man who supposedly “flicked his son on the ear”.

On top of that there have been all the cases reported by Family First in their massive advertisements telling us all about good parents being terrorised by CYFS and other agents of the State.

But has the passage of the amendments last year created a harsh environment for poor struggling parents?

In fact all the cases I’ve seen are actually a total vindication of the law change we collectively achieved. Not one of the cases I’ve just mentioned turned out as it was first presented. For example, the ‘poor’ Masterton man actually pleaded guilty to assaulting his 8-year-old son and agreed to undergo anger-management counseling for which the state will pay.

In the Nelson case the father has been charged with more than one charge of assault, and the Christchurch father has been charged with assault of both of his children.

These cases help tell us where we are at and also point to the work that still needs to be done.

We are up against a well resourced campaign that doesn’t have any qualms about representing child abusers even while they front stop abuse campaigns, spread deliberate misinformation, and prey on public fears to advance their message of violence.

The Government -and all of us here tonight- have to continue to do more to support families with practical assistance and ideas about alternatives to violence. I welcome the Government’s announcement of increased funding for MSD contracted or funded groups and look forward to seeing the details of what will eventuate as they relate to child violence and support for families.

In the context of the very politicised debate that is continuing in this election year I welcome the launch of ‘Unreasonable Force.’ This book will play a key role in helping to inform journalists, researchers, members of the public and MPs about the true story behind the reform of our child discipline laws, and about why so many of us saw and continue to see this as an absolutely critical issue.

We cannot afford to turn back the clock. Even if the bid for a referendum succeeds, I don’t actually believe that a majority of MPs in any future Parliament will in fact want to put their names to a vote to relegalise the hitting and beating of children.

But none of us can rest on our achievements. The struggle continues and I thank all involved with the writing and production of this book for your commitment to continuing to stand up for the right of our babies and children to grow up free from violence.

Ian Hassall, Author
On behalf of the authors, Beth Wood, myself, George Hook and Robert Ludbrook, who wrote the law section, welcome and thank you for your interest.

Producing this book has been an enterprise involving many people. We would like to thank all the people who contributed.

First, Save the Children New Zealand who have backed the book from start to finish, encouraging its development, funding its publication and promoting its distribution and use. John Bowis, Executive Director and the Board of Save the Children, Sonya Hogan and Ariana Paretutanganui-Tamati, Advocacy Managers. Dominique Pierre Plateau of the Bangkok office of the International Save the Children Alliance.

Second, Naida Glavish, Chair of Ngati Whatua runanga, a true champion of children and families, who has provided the dedication. Kia ora Naida. Cindy Kiro, our courageous and able Children’s Commissioner who supplied the foreword. Sue Bradford, steadfast navigator, who gave us the epilogue. Our patient and honest reviewers, who are named in the beginning pages of the book. Astra Print, who as always have done a sharp job.

Last and special thanks to Jane and James Ritchie. You will see reference to their names and work throughout this book because they laid the foundations with their research and their books for a warmer and more constructive, a less harsh and punitive child-rearing culture in this country.

We have written a book both of record and of advocacy. As we say in the preface it does not strain to take a neutral position in the debate. It does aim to record faithfully what led to the ending of support in New Zealand law for the physical punishment of children. And it aims to defend and sustain the law change here and contribute to reform in other countries.

It is also a work of scholarship. It identifies and describes the principal forces that led to the law change, explores their origins and considers the implications for New Zealand children and New Zealand society.

In the book we have used the analogy of a journey for the process of change. It is a journey which began long ago if we count the drawn-out evolution of human rights. It is not yet over.

The organized opposition to reform has stirred up fears of unwarranted Police or CYFS attention to parents under the new law. Of course no such thing has occurred. Preliminary information on Police prosecutions and notifications to Child Youth and Family are that things are stable. Since December a number of individual cases have been publicized by people trying to bring down the new law. They turned out to be cases where the action taken was fully justified according to any decent standard.

Nevertheless the opponents of change are unembarrassed and unwilling to move on. They want to revisit the issue this election year. They continue to misinform the public to the point of absurdity. Some of them have claimed cases of child abuse as evidence of the new law’s failure.

We hope this book will be used as a source of factual information. We want it to be used not only to support the law change but to be a foundation for further advancing the interests of New Zealand children and their families. We have hopes that the law change of May 2007 signals an era in which fewer children will live in fear and suffering and in which there will be wider recognition of each child’s right to understanding and respect.

In looking to the future we would like to draw to your attention the last chapter of the book. In it we have looked at how the benefits to children of the new law may be developed and safeguarded. We propose a plan that includes seven action points:
• Accurate public information;
• Accessible parent education;
• Effective parent support services;
• Constructive policing responses
• Appropriate legal interpretation
• Purposeful impact monitoring
• Useful social science research

Attention to all of these is needed if the new law is to be secure and its benefits fully realised. There is a need for leadership in developing and implementing the plan. Where is this to be found? We should draw on the experience of the last few years as outlined in the book. We know that we have leaders in the NGO sector, among iwi, in government agencies, in Parliament and in the wider population capable of taking a lead in their own spheres. There is a need for short and long-term resourcing of the plan, particularly in the provision of support for parents, families and whanau.

We have a rich diversity of child-rearing cultures in this country derived from our many traditions. That they do not protect and nurture all of our children is a tragedy that the experience of other countries tells us is unnecessary. With careful deliberation, adequate resourcing and the leadership and wisdom at our disposal we can make the passage of the new law and the enlightenment generated by the surrounding debate into a cloak of love and care that covers all of our children.

Peter Newell, Coordinator of Children are unbeatable! (Alliance, UK and Global Initiative to end all corporal punishment of children)It’s a tremendous breakthrough to have an English-speaking country join the list of those that have reformed their law to give children the same protection as adults from being hit.

In England, we just hope it won’t be too long before we follow you. Our Labour Government has got as far as saying it “doesn’t condone” physical punishment by parents, but it resists the long overdue step of removing the “reasonable punishment” defence completely.

England bears a heavy responsibility for spreading the habit of corporal punishment of children during the colonial period, institutionalising it in schools and penal systems and encouraging it in the home, including through some missionary teaching. I understand more than 70 states have adopted the English common law defence of “reasonable chastisement”.

Many congratulations to Sue Bradford for her integrity and initiative, your Prime Minister for putting her government behind the reform (and for coming to Westminster recently and telling our Labour MPs what an important reform it is for children) and to all the politicians who in the end came together to see the reform through. And I am very proud to have worked from a great distance with Beth Wood and others over too long a period.

Reform is accelerating fast globally – the first three states in Latin America joined the list just before Christmas, making a total of 23, and another 22 are publicly committed. If they fulfil their commitments, more than a fifth of UN member states will have given their children equal protection from assault.

My request to New Zealand is to use every opportunity to be evangelical about your reform – the book will certainly help many of us around the world! And maybe New Zealand’s children could mobilise the world’s children…

Hon Ruth Dyson, Minister of Social Development and Employment
Rau rangatira maa,
tenei te mihi ki a koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te ra.
Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.

[Distinguished guests, greetings to you gathered here for this purpose today. Greetings once, twice, three times to you all.]

Thank you for inviting me to be part of this book launch.

I’d like to acknowledge everyone here, particularly my parliamentary colleagues.

The repeal of Section 59 in the Crimes Act is an important contribution to the overall campaign to make our homes safer for children and it is important that the journey is recorded.

We have been encouraged by the strong support for law change by so many respected organisations with proud records of working for children, many of whom are represented here today.

I have been appalled by the misrepresentation of the law change and of the Bill as it was going through parliament and since then.

This book will make a valuable contribution to the facts.

The legislation now simply gives children the same protection from assault under the law as adults have. I have often reflected on how difficult it would be to get signatures on a petition to allow adults the right to hit cats.

It must be a priority to push for the very safest environment we can have for children in homes throughout the country.

Unicef has reported that among developed countries New Zealand ranked 24th out of 24 as being the least safe for children in respect of the rates of death from accident and injury.

But in the case of Section 59; the overwhelming majority of our Parliament eventually came together last May, to send a very strong message about not wanting the violence that causes death and injury in our homes.

It was great that Parliament was almost unanimous in taking a stand on these issues. I want to particularly acknowledge Sue Bradford for introducing the Bill and those select committee members in all parties who backed the repeal - particularly those who supported it from the start.

I am glad that our Parliament’s stance has been internationally recognised through the messages of support we have just heard.

Their messages are further confirmation that New Zealand has done the right thing, both for our reputation on the world stage but, more importantly, for our most vulnerable citizens – our children.

It goes a long side other initiatives to support families and protect children:

• 14 weeks paid parental leave

• An extra week of paid annual leave– now a minimum of four weeks

• 20 hours free early childhood education

• SKIP – parenting programme

• Fruit in schools and Mission-On so that school children can be encouraged to develop healthy eating and active lifestyles

• Early intervention support that begins before birth - with midwives and lead maternity carers - and continues through the life of a child.

Our government has introduced many initiatives focused improving outcomes for children by supporting struggling parents and helping to change attitudes and behaviours.

The Early Years initiative provides a central point of contact where families can access a range of services, from ante-natal care through to parenting support and education.

The Well Child/Tamariki Ora service provides free information, advice, health checks and immunisation for children under 5 years.

The SKIP (Strategies for Kids, Information for Parents) programme provides free information for parents and funds local community-run parenting programmes.

For families requiring more intensive and specialised support we are able to offer programmes such as Family Start, Strengthening Families and Social Workers in Schools.

We need to continue to build on these supports.

For families at risk there are initiatives such as the Family Violence Intervention Programme. It uses an intensive interagency case management approach, together with Work and Income identifying families at risk and working closely with community organisations to give them the support they need.

We know that many children who are at risk do not come to the notice of government agencies. Families, neighbours and communities are often best placed to identify and help address the issues they face. I want to particularly mention the It’s Not OK campaign which is helping New Zealanders to face up to family violence and to take positive action to stop it. Ian Hassall mentioned leadership beforeand I want to commend the four men who are fronting the latest phase of that campaign.

Thank you again for inviting me to launch this book, I hope that many New Zealanders will read it and it will become a useful tool for change in the ongoing national debate about how we treat our children.

I’d like to give a huge commendation to Beth Wood, Ian Hassall, George Hook and Robert Ludbrook for their work on the book and, of course, Save the Children Fund.

It will help to set the record straight and it will promote positive social change we need to make our country safe for everyone.

Thank you.

Message from Professor Yanghee Lee, Chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (transcribed from videotape)Hello – I am Yanghee Lee – the Chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Greetings and Kia ora. Kia ora to the tamariki /mokapuna of New Zealand and to all the people in New Zealand gathered for the launch of the book tonight.

As Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child it gives me great pleasure to be able to share in the event. I would like to be there in person but right at this moment the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is in session in Geneva.

New Zealand’s periodic report to the Committee was being presented at the time I was first appointed to the Committee in 2003. I vividly remember discussing corporal punishment and section 59.

Most of you will know how steadfast the UN Committee has been in promoting an end to physical punishment around the world in its recommendations in response to country reports.

The United Nations Study on Violence to children strongly recommends an end to all corporal punishment of children. It is not a day too early to do so. In my opinion legal loopholes have allowed this form of violence to children to continue.

The time is right to end this tradition and it is very reassuring to be able to report that we are making progress. The UN study on violence includes ending physical punishment of children by 2009 as one of its 12 over-riding recommendations.

But I know that such reforms are not achieved without a struggle on the part of the public, child advocates and politicians. I understand that in New Zealand the debate was very public, protracted and at times painful. But experience shows that when a country does achieve this new status for its children good things rather than bad things happen and attitudes begin to change.

I understand that in May 2007 almost every politician in the New Zealand Parliament voted for the new law banning the use of force for correction of children. I applaud all politicians who supported the new law and thank you for your excellent leadership and example to other countries. New Zealand is the first English speaking country in the world and the first country in the South East Asia and Pacific region to achieve this significant advance in children’s rights. New Zealand's pioneering tradition in advancing human rights is well known.

I believe that New Zealand’s influence on other countries in the region and throughout the world in bringing about this new legislation will be considerable. I am convinced the detailed recording of New Zealand’s case will provide a blueprint for other countries.

On behalf of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child I thank all who worked to achieve the law change in New Zealand.

Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Independent Expert leading the UN Secretary general’s Study on Violence against Children, 2003 – 2007
I’m so pleased to be able to join in the celebration and congratulations, from the USA where I am currently teaching… I well remember in 2005, at the UN Study Regional Consultation for East Asia and Pacific in Bangkok, hearing the passionate call from a young New Zealand woman and other children for prohibition of all corporal punishment.
It was a call heard from children throughout the Study process, in all regions. Plainly, corporal punishment is the commonest form of violence against children. Adults invented this absurd legal concept of “reasonable” punishment, “reasonable” violence… But there is nothing at all “reasonable” about hitting children. My report, presented to the General Assembly in October 2006, was very clear on that, and recommends that all states should prohibit ALL violence, including ALL corporal punishment, by 2009.
New Zealand’s ban, achieved in 2007, is a great step forward. It seems that this concept of “reasonable violence” has its roots particularly in English law, so it is particularly important to have achieved prohibition in an English-speaking country. Let’s hope others follow quickly.
My Study for the UN Secretary General has raised expectations among the world’s children. It is going to take leadership from brave politicians, like those who steered your reform through, and active advocacy from NGOs and children, to fulfil those expectations – and in particular to stop adults disguising violence as “discipline”.

I am still shocked to find adults defending what they see as a right - or even a duty - to hit and hurt children. It is not just the dignity of children which suffers from the persisting legal and social acceptance of corporal punishment, but also the dignity of parents and of whole societies. New Zealand has moved on to a new respect for children. I warmly congratulate the author of your Bill, Sue Bradford, your Prime Minister, Helen Clark and all others who supported the legislation.

Those of you involved in the campaign know well how difficult and controversial this issue remains; I am sure the book you have prepared will provide valuable advice and I look forward to reading it.