A former member of Parliament who introduced anti-smacking legislation in 2007 is appalled that the Conservative Party leader Colin Craig has publicly admitted to smacking his daughter.
In an interview on Radio Live yesterday morning, Craig said he smacks his daughter occasionally, despite the possibility he could be prosecuted, a statement which former Green MP Sue Bradford says promotes family violence.
Bradford says the law reform is changing the culture of violence towards children and that Colin Craig is undoing that good work.
Craig said he wants the anti-smacking amendment repealed because it is not working. He says there has been a increase of 30 per cent in notified child-abuse cases since 2008.
As at April last year, the police had prosecuted nine people for smacking since monitoring began in June 2007. All but one were convicted.