Section 59 a victory for Helen Clark and MMP politics

For months, the National Party has been strongly criticising Sue Bradford's proposed repeal (then amendment) of Section 59 of the Crimes Act.

They and their supporters, the Destiny Church and various other marginal social groups, have run a highly effective political campaign to mislead the public on what the Bill would do.

Those of us who have supported the Bill have argued many times that the Police have never been likely to be silly in unreasonably enforcing the law in this matter, with trivial offences.

Now Helen Clark has negotiated an amendment to the bill, which John Key has endorsed, to make this de facto reality de jure, by including it in the law:

''To avoid doubt it is affirmed that police have the discretion not to prosecute complaints against parents of any child, or those standing in place of any child, in relation to an offence involving the use of force against a child where the offence is considered to be so inconsequential that there is no public interest in pursuing a prosecution.''

Peter Dunne's name will be on the amendment, which Sue Bradford has accepted.

So National has made a U-turn. Why do I call it that? Simple. Labour's position is as it ever was. The law will simply make that position - police discretion - more explicit. National has been against this Bill from the start but has now decided that its positioning was causing political damage to the point where it had to change its point of view.

I think John Key has done the right thing here. National's position was politically and intellectually unsustainable. U-turns are not always a bad thing to do, and when they correct a mistake they can only be welcomed.

Credit has to go to Helen Clark for pulling off the negotiations that led to this. The Prime Minister has proved herself a master of MMP in the past seven years in government, and this is another example of successful MMP politics at work. Having been solidly behind the legislation from the start, and having a solid Caucus behind her in that despite obvious pressures to go down a different way, only she had the mana and the authority to negotiate the kind of agreement we now see.

And actually, when you think about it, all the parties in Parliament can give themselves a pat on the back. They saw a need for this Bill to get through and have made it possible for that to happen. That should send a clear signal to the public and to those who would assault their kids that Parliament is united against them.

That should make Kiwi kids safer. Hurray. Let's not forget though that without Labour's stubbornness on this issue, the Greens' bravery in raising it, the absolute refusal of small party backers of the Bill to withdraw or weaken their support, and finally National's reconsideration, this would not be the case. The status quo would have won out. The political guts on display have been quite impressive. Long may that be the case.

And a photo of the two leaders from the Herald, for those who like such things: