ACT MP David Garrett thinks abusive parents should be offered a $5000 incentive to get sterilised.The list MP expressed the personal -- not ACT party -- view on a blogsite after reports yesterday into family violence deaths and into measures to tackle abu
ACT MP David Garrett thinks abusive parents should be offered a $5000 incentive to get sterilised.
The list MP expressed the personal -- not ACT party -- view on a blogsite after reports yesterday into family violence deaths and into measures to tackle abusive parents.
"If -- say -- $5000 was paid to the likes of both parents of the Kahui twins if they chose to be sterilized, this would address many ... concerns," Mr Garrett commented on the Kiwiblog debate about sterilisation.
"Nothing compulsory, just an option. To take Kahui-King as examples, how much is it costing the state now to care for the children Maxyna (Macsyna) King has had removed from her?
"How much will it cost to care for the 6 or 8 more she may have before menopause? How much is it costing for CYF (Child Youth and Family) to monitor the well being of Chris Kahui's latest offspring?
"$5,000 to each of them is ludicrously cheap by comparison."
Three-month-old south Auckland twins Chris and Cru Kahui were killed in June 2006, and their father Chris Kahui was acquitted of their murders in 2008.
Mr Garrett said some might think his suggestion was silly.
"...the Indians did it 30 years ago (the reward was a transistor radio for every man who had a vasectomy) for population control reasons. I don't recall why the programme was eventually abandoned."
Tau Huirama, from anti-violence group Jigsaw, told Radio New Zealand today that he was shocked by the MP's comments.
"I just cringe at the thought of sterilisation, it's a thing that takes you back to Hitler and that sort of thinking."
He said parents needed to be helped if they were struggling and sterilisation was a permanent measure when people could change.
Labour deputy leader Annette King strongly opposed the idea.
"This idea is you wait until a child's been abused and then you give the parents $5000 to be sterilised so they don't have any more."
She said the money would be better invested in parenting programmes.
Whanganui Mayor Michael Laws previously raised the idea of incentivising some people not to have children.
