“14, 15, and 16 year-old boys seek out role models like ‘heat seeking missiles’. It’s either the leader of the Mongrel Mob or it’s a sports coach or it’s Dad. But an overwhelming majority of boys who I see in the Youth Court have lost contact with their father.”

- Principal Youth Court Judge, Andrew Becroft

Why family matters: Most New Zealanders build their lives around their families: because at the end of the day it really is family that matters most.

Stable, healthy and prosperous families contribute more towards the success of a nation than any other factor. Why, because community and economy is effectively the sum-total of the people in it. And people are by and large, the product of their home environments.

International research comparing closely with New Zealand on social issues shows that fatherless children are worse off in terms of health, educational attainment, work ethic, income and lifetime wealth. They are more prone to crime, drug addiction, divorce, unemployment, illness, truancy, suicide, poverty and depression. All of these indicators are societal hallmarks of New Zealand today. Family-form matters.

Over the last decade, Government has underestimated the impact of family life on our national livelihood, even to the point where laws and policies have undermined the intergenerational family, the traditional institution of marriage, the role and responsibility of parents, and healthy family life. 

It’s time for Government to undergo a wholesale change of attitude towards New Zealand families: reinstate traditional family values and put families FIRST again.

Putting family at the centre of our policies: The Family Party believes:

• The intergenerational family is the cornerstone and basic building block of society and should be supported by Government in every way
• Healthy families create a healthy society
• Family 'form' is important. Enduring marriage-centred families are the proactive solution to poverty, crime, dependency and educational under-achievement
• It is vital that fathers are restored to the family equation
• Strong families equate to less government

Making 'family' the priority: The Family Party aims to:

• Reinstate traditional family values in Parliament
• Put families first in policy and legislation
• Encourage and incentivise enduring, marriage-centred families
• Advocate for the rights and responsibilities of parents towards their children
• Improve the social and economic position of New Zealand families

Rebuilding a marriage culture: The Family Party will:

• Protect, esteem and encourage the traditional institution of marriage through policy and legislation
• Pursue a Definition of Marriage Act that defines marriage as between a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life 
• Pursue policies that encourage marriage and parental longevity, as opposed to separation and divorce

Tempering increasing household living costs: The Family Party will:

• Reduce all personal tax rates to a lower and flatter tax structure to keep more money with the earner and in the home 
• Remove GST on basic (primary staple) food groups,
  o Infant and elderly necessities
  o Household energy
  o Rates (a tax on a tax)
  o And off the excise duty on fuel (a tax on a tax)
• Ensure tax brackets are adjusted (annually) relative to inflation changes 
• Encourage long-term savings and investments by savings-friendly taxation
• Look at providing a one-off cash incentive for married couples purchasing their first home [see Housing Policies]
• Spend wisely to reduce the tax burden for every New Zealander

Parents before politicians: The Family Party is extremely concerned at the extent of political control over parents in the home. Our goal is to take the power off Parliament and put it back into the hands of New Zealand parents. To that end, the Family Party will:

• Trust parents to raise their own children
• Protect and esteem the invaluable role of parents in the home
• Affirm and support the role of parents in setting and reinforcing healthy boundaries and standards of behaviour for their children
• Encourage family life in every way
• Ensure Government doesn’t undermine the role and responsibility of parents in the home

Fathers for the future: Government must be prepared to face a cold hard reality: the root of social dysfunction is invariably tracked back to family breakdown, and more to the point – absent fathers. This is not to minimise the invaluable role mums play in the home and child raising, but biological dads are simply irreplaceable. 

New Zealand’s Principal Youth Court Judge, Andrew Becroft, recently released figures from a study of youth crime that confirms that the majority of serious youth offenders (82 percent) have lost contact with their father: only 12 percent of the offenders who came through the court were living with both parents, 28 percent were living with one parent (usually their mother) and 60 percent were not living with either their mother or their father.

The crisis facing our country today is that many thousands of children that are growing up without Dad in the home. Policies that minimise the importance of marriage (and traditional family form) and insentivise parental separation must be reversed for the sake of our children and the future health of our nation. To that end, the Family Party will:

• Review all current welfare benefits that insentivise parental separation, such as the Domestic Purposes Benefit
• Promote the role of fathers in the home
• Demand greater accountabilities from fathers towards their children
• Actively encourage and foster greater involvement from fathers in their children’s lives

Fix the smacking law: The Family Party will fix current legislation that makes responsible smacking a crime and has been actively involved in the collection of signatures towards the smacking petition. To that end, the Family Party will:

• Reinstate Section 59 of the Crimes Act that affords decent, loving parents protection from criminal liability in circumstances where corrective discipline is reasonable in the circumstances.

See the Family Party background on the smacking debate

Binge drinking destroys families: The Family Party is extremely concerned at an increasing culture of binge drinking, particularly amongst young people. Moreover, alcohol is a predominant factor in crime and domestic violence. To that end, the Family Party will:

• Raise the legal drinking age back to 20
• Support public campaigns that target alcohol abuse
• Limit the number of community liquor outlets
• Take a zero-tolerance approach to the supply of alcohol to minors without parental knowledge or consent
• Zero-tolerance to drink driving

Footnote regarding the legal drinking age:

The NZ Drug Foundation, Ministry of Health, ALAC and other public health organisations opposed lowering New Zealand's drinking age based on research evidence of increases in alcohol-related harm when drinking ages were lowered in Australia, Canada and the US. When Canada and the US raised their drinking ages again, alcohol-related harm decreased. There was a decrease in alcohol use among US teenagers that persisted into their early 20s. A comprehensive analysis, carried out in 2000, of published US research, found that raising the drinking age appeared to be more effective than a wide range of other strategies aimed at reducing youth drinking.

A 2005 Ministry of Justice report into the consequences of lowering the drinking age showed that those, especially in the 14 to 17 year old category who drank, were drinking more and more often. Police evidence cited in the report showed frontline police have had to deal with rising numbers of drunk and disorderly teenagers since the drinking age was lowered in 1999, with the number of minors dealt with by police on alcohol-related matters increasing from 834 incidents in 1994 to 2,597 in 2002. Teen drivers affected by alcohol caused 23 deaths and 274 injury crashes in 2004 continuing a rising trend since the drinking age was lowered in 1999.

Study finds raising drinking age would save lives
A comprehensive study on the minimum drinking age found that laws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol by people under the age of 21 have significantly reduced alcohol-related fatal vehicle crashes. In states that have passed laws making it illegal to possess or purchase alcohol by anyone under 21, the researchers found an 11 percent drop in alcohol-related traffic deaths among those under that age.
http://alcoholism.about.com/od/dui/a/minimum_age.htm

Raising Drinking Age Would Reduce Harmful Youth Pressures
The Salvation Army supports calls to raise the legal drinking age to 20, as a way to reduce harmful pressures on young people.
http://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/SITE_Default/news/2004_04-06/Drinking_Age.asp