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Eighty-eight per cent of voters have thrown their support behind smacking “as part of good parental correction” in a postal referendum in New Zealand.
Grown-ups across the country celebrated the overwhelming result by pouring into the streets last night, brandishing paddles with “FAH Q” and “Badass” written on them.
The referendum is non-binding, meaning that it is not clear whether the 2007 smacking law will actually be repealed. Also not clear is whether the reintroduction of smacking will be retroactive, though many parents are understood to have been keeping a list of two years’ worth of stored-up spankings, just in case.
The result means Labour will probably shelve a proposed ban on turning this car around and driving straight back home.
Anti-smacking campaigners have complained that the wording of the question inflated the pro-smacking vote. Alternative wordings include “Do you want Dad to take his belt off?” and “I have to be at work in four hours. Why won’t you stop crying?”
Next year’s waste-of-time referendum will be about the sorts of treats that can be made contingent on the consumption of all your vegetables.
