The opinion of Tauranga election candidates on the controversial anti-smacking law is mixed despite a survey showing 62 per cent of Kiwis want the law repealed.
National's Simon Bridges and Labour's Rachel Jones believed there was no need for the law to be changed while New Zealand First's Clayton Mitchell and Michael O 'Neill, of the New Zealand Independent Coalition, said they would look at having it repealed.
More than 150,000 people were asked whether the anti-smacking law should be repealed as part of a Vote Compass survey with 62 per cent saying yes, 23 per cent saying no and 15 per cent neutral, TVNZ reported.
Ms Jones said she was surprised the issue was still being debated. "It should be the anti-unreasonable force bill then we wouldn't have so many people that were anti it."
Mr Bridges agreed and said National had no plans to change the law. He was not in parliament when the law was changed and said he would have voted against it at the time but his opinion had since changed.
"If I thought good parents were being successfully prosecuted for light smacking I'd push for a change," he said. "Everything I've seen, including the police monitoring report, makes it clear they are not."
Mr Mitchell said he was strongly against the smacking law when it was introduced and would like to see it repealed although its priority level would be decided after the election.
"It's basically putting the majority of New Zealand parents in the position of basically becoming criminals."
The Government's decision to ignore the results of a referendum showing most New Zealanders disagreed with the law was "arrogant", he said.
Mr O'Neill said the New Zealand Independent Coalition would undertake a review of the law seeking feedback from the community with a view to repealing it.
"Generally our opinion is that it's not proving to be working and it's tying up a lot of police time often on frivolous cases."
United Future candidate James Maxwell said he would act in accordance with the wishes of the residents of Tauranga and would push to repeal the law if more than a third of his constituents voted against it.
ACT candidate Stuart Pedersen said it was not a policy the party was campaigning on and would be considered a conscience vote. "The tragedy of child abuse needs to be addressed through a stronger economy and reform of the education and welfare systems."
Independent candidate Yvette Lamare said the law needed to be removed and replaced with an "anti-bashing" law.
Section 59 of the Crimes Amendment Act 2007
• Every parent is justified in using force if the force used is reasonable in the circumstances and is for the purpose of preventing or minimising harm, preventing the child from engaging in a criminal offence, preventing the child from engaging in offensive or disruptive behaviour or performing normal daily tasks that are incidental to good care and parenting.
• Police have the discretion not to prosecute complaints against a parent of a child where the offence is considered to be inconsequential.