Parliament surprised me last night: Ron Mark's Young Offenders (Serious Crimes) Bill, a nasty piece of pedophobia which would have seen kids stuck in jail with hardened criminals for anything other than the most minor shoplifting, went down 14 to 107. The guilty parties were NZ First, United Future, ACT, Gordon Copeland, Taito Phillip Field, and Brian Connell, who crossed the floor to vote for it (well, its not as if he has anything to lose anymore, does he?).
It's nice to see sanity prevail over political opportunism and the desire to appear "tough on crime" by bashing the young. I wonder how long it will last?
