Anti-smacking bill passes first hurdle 

An anti-smacking bill sponsored by Green MP Sue Bradford has passed its first hurdle in parliament with MPs voting to send it to select committee.

Bradford's bill would repeal section 59 of the Crimes Act, which allows parents the defence of reasonable force if they are charged with assaulting their children.

Debate over the bill raged in parliament on Wednesday night, but it passed its first reading by 65 votes to 54.

Labour, the Greens, the Progressives, the Maori Party and two New Zealand First MPs voted for the bill, with National, Act, United Future and the remaining 11 New Zealand First MPs opposed.

The bill will now be referred to a Select Committee for public submissions after the election. At this stage the Labour Party has not committed to supporting any future votes.

Sue Bradford says the current law is barbaric and has seen parents get away with beating their children.

"This is simply getting rid of one bad law which allows a reasonable defence when parents sometimes really quite grossly abuse their children - for example hitting them with whips or canes or pieces of wood," says Bradford.

She says the acquittal of a Timaru mother two months ago, who was charged with hitting her 13-year-old son with a cane and horse riding whip, is proof enough an urgent law change is needed.

But the bill has its detractors.

The group Family Integrity says it would criminalise parents and strip them of their authority to parent children. And the Maxim Institute says the bill represents a further intrusion of the state into the domain of parents and the family.

Despite the opposition, Bradford's bill has the support of parenting groups.

"There is no other group in our society against whom we sanction physical punishment or violence and we've been really slow I think to get to repealing this part of the Crimes Act... this is an opportunity for MPs to do the right thing," says Deborah Morris-Travers of Littlies Lobby.

Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro says under the law parents who lightly smack their children would not be prosecuted.