Hopefully Bishop Randerson takes over Garth George's column when he leaves the city.

Thanks for this post Anke. And I agree about NZ's mask slipping. There are some ugly attitudes out there. I don't dare listen to talkback radio.
I can offer one positive story though. The talk of this bill has prompted my friend to again bring up her opposition to her husband's smacking of their child and he is now reading a book about kinder discipline options and has made a vow to stop.

However, he is an intelligent, globally-conscious gentlemen who understands that he smacks in anger and not out of a belief that it is somehow GOOD for the child. That has got to be the most ridiculous argument I've heard so far (almost as inane as the old line, 'I was smacked and I've turned out fine' or 'Many of my friends are Chinese but...')