Hundreds protest anti-smacking bill

Anti-smacking bill protesters march into Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The voices were tense, but there was no violence when supporters from both sides of the smacking debate clashed at Parliament today.

About 400 people marched on Parliament grounds from Civic Square, singing the national anthem and yelling opposition to Green MP Sue Bradford's bill to change the law on smacking.

Meanwhile, an estimated 1000 protestors braved a wet, wintry lunchtime in Christchurch to march from Victoria to Cathedral Square.

The Wellington demonstrators were followed by a small group of about 30, who inside Parliament grounds tried to drown out speakers from National, Family First and ACT, with their chant of "Repeal 59", 59 being the section of the Crimes Act that Ms Bradford wants removed. It allows the statutory defence of justifiable "reasonable force" against assault on a child.

Some of those 30 mingled among those in favour of the law staying as it is and there were angry arguments, but they didn't escalate into anything physical, other than when a man at Civic Square referring repeatedly to Jesus grabbed another man on the leg.

The Bible-carrier had taken offence to a comment from the other man, but it turned out both were from the anti-smacking side of the debate.

Police quickly intervened.

The issue clearly has its personal side, with For The Sake Of Our Children Trust campaigner and former Winz chief Christine Rankin telling the crowd, "the childless Prime Minister thinks she knows better than the public", Newstalk ZB reported.

Ms Rankin also took aim at Ms Bradford, saying comments she made last October that men opposed to the bill were sexual perverts who get a kick out of kicking children "says it all."

A repeated theme of the placards and statements of those opposed to the Bradford bill was the interference of "nanny state" in their family lives.

"It's social engineering," yelled Louise Simpson, who said she had travelled from Waitakere in Auckland to take part in the march.

"What they are actually doing is adopting the same fascist ideas as the Nazis and using our police force that we pay for to enforce it."

Ms Simpson said she was disappointed with the stance of Maori Party MPs, who support Ms Bradford, on the bill.

She was one of a number of marchers accompanied by children, with grand-daughter Nikita in tow on a pushchair.

From the other side of the argument, Ella Edginton said she was "disgusted" by the large number of "brainwashed children" brought along to "bulk up their numbers".