Own goals

Family First and the Vote no campaign seem to be getting rather good at scoring own goals. The “Vote no” campaign kicked off a couple of days ago featuring this sexist and racist cartoon on the front page of its website:

Then Honest Bob McCoskrie found a new poster boy yesterday in Glenn Groves:

Glenn Groves, 44, of Wellington, pleaded guilty to assault in Lower Hutt District Court yesterday but will undergo an anger management course in a bid to get discharged without conviction.

In May he and his young son were at a rugby game at Lower Hutt’s Fraser Park, but when the boy refused to play because he was missing part of his uniform, Groves became “extremely agitated” at his attitude, court documents show.

Groves laid a hand on his back to redirect him, but as the boy resisted he fell. He stood up three times and was pushed by his father, falling to the ground each time. After a bystander complained to police, Groves admitted pushing his son.

He told police he was “tired and determined that his son would not let the team down”.

Mr McCoskrie said the charges laid against Groves and several other parents for lightly smacking their children proved police were taking far too heavy an approach.

Now this isn’t even smacking. This is a man pushing his son so hard that he fell over – three times!

It is actually indicative of why the previous law didn’t work. If “reasonable force for the purpose of correction” were still a defence, Groves may have been able to successfully defend the charge.

Wonder if Family First and the no-voters will be adopting Christopher William Hunt as their next poster boy? I wouldn’t put it past them.