no man

I'm still in the theme of having all titles as names of New Zealand songs, as it is still May. This title is particularly apt as to the makeup of the Justice and Electoral select committee that heard submissions on Sue Bradford's bill that aims to repeal Section 59 of the Crimes Act.

On Thusday, the whole lot of them were women from three of the parties.All the men were substituted, as is allowed. Yet the list on the Parliamentary website notes that most of the committee members are men, so one would wonder why there was such a gender warp this week hearing a bill promoted by Green MP, particularly in light of the Green's position on gender equality.

I`d also like to add that I have read some of the submissions from those who appeared before the committee. I wil be doing a summary of them in a few days - because some of the arguments are so inept. For example the Families Commission wants S59 repealed, smacking made a criminal offence, provided that parents don't become criminals for light smacking. Yet it also submits that the law should not kick in for 18 moinths to allow for education on physical discipline.

And our taxes pay for this!