Oh, and the transcript:

180 Seconds With Craig Ranapia
May 5, 2007

In the privacy of the bedroom, spanking is not my idea of a good time — but political junkies? Politics at the best of times involves a taste for heavy duty sado-masochism, with an emphasis on verbal humiliation of your intelligence. The passage of Sue Bradford's anti-smacking bill is very far from the best of times.

Just to add insult to injury (whether you enjoy it or not), Wednesday saw Helen Clark and John Key re-invent themselves as New Zealand’s foremost dominatrix tag-team. A tasteless and over the top extended metaphor?

No. Because S&M, like politics is largely about role-playing where little is what it appears to be.

Unless I’ve completely misread the latest amendment — which was passed 117 to 3 in Parliament on Wednesday night – all that has been achieved is to still make smacking illegal, but explicitly hands over discretion to Police not to prosecute if (and I quote) “the offence is considered to be so inconsequential that there is no public interest in proceeding with a prosecution.”

And it’s just common sense what constitutes ‘inconsequential’, right?

Well, you don’t have to be some paranoid, far-left cop hater to wonder whether some in the Police have an idea of ‘the public interest’ that is neither common nor sensible. Or whether we really want the judiciary having to walk where legislators fear to tread, because it got thrown in the too hard basket.

I can understand why political masochism does not extend to the dungeon of trying to define what constitutes a ‘consequential’ level of force just over a year out from a general election. Much easier to hand it off to the Police, and the judiciary who are going to have to settle any prosecutions, who incidentally catch the flack if they screw up.

But it’s also a slap in the face, and one I don’t welcome, to see our elected legislature play pass the parcel and claim it’s a triumph of common sense over politics as usual.

Everyone, regardless of their partisan affiliation, recalls names like Delicia Witika, Lilybing Karaitiana, James Whakaruru, the Kahui Twins and so many more with rage, horror and a desperate, soul-destroying sadness. Too many people — myself included — recall others who lives where blighted by horrific abuse by parents unworthy to have custody of a goldfish let alone a human being.

It seems almost certain that Sue Bradford’s bill will become law, but I don’t believe it will convince any child abuser to stay their hand. Police discretion will inevitably turn out to be misjudged, and some court is going to make a call that will cause entirely predictable outrage from the usual suspect.

But here’s the hard and ugly truth: You cannot legislate virtue into existence, or make monsters vanish at a stroke of the Governor-General’s pen.

We fight human cruelty and evil, by a million acts of quiet human courage and kindness. The law is part of that, government has it’s place, but it’s not enough.