New Government Publicity Campaign

Career Change Coming Up

Yesterday the Government announced $10 million has been earmarked for a new Government campaign to support families.

The Minister of Social Development, Paula Bennett made the announcement at a hastily called news conference in the Beehive. Flanked by the Prime Minister, John Key and Anne Tolley, Minister of Education, Bennett announced that money had been found within the multi-billion budget for Social Development to fund the new campaign. It will not mean any net increase in government expenditure, she assured the assembled reporters.

John Key said this was an important component in the Government's policies to see New Zealand on the road to economic recovery. "We simply will not get sustainable economic growth unless we have strong, stable and sustainable families. There is an abundance of evidence that strong two-parent families inter-generationally linked are the bedrock for economic and productivity growth," he said.

Bennett said that the publicity campaign would feature well known public personalities, drawn from the media, sport, and the community. They would each use the rubric "It's OK." When asked what would be "OK," Minister Bennett elaborated: "the point is that we want to assure families generally, and parents in particular that it's OK to break the law. We don't want them living in fear and intimidation."

The campaign will feature public figures like Sir Anand Satyanand, the Governor General and Police Commissioner, Howard Broad assuring families, "It's OK to break the law." Parents will be informed by trusted and respected figures that they can smack their children for purposes of correction and discipline, and that the law was never meant to be kept.

When Mr Key was asked whether this was a "flip flop" and that actually the current law was not working well, he apologised and excused himself. "I really have to go," he said. "I have another appointment. I am due to appear with Dave Letterman as his comic relief for the evening."

The Prime Minister said he was humbled at this wonderful opportunity to put New Zealand on the map.

Ends.