What happens in New Zealand if you brutally assault your partner, kick the shit out of her, break her back in two places, and stick her in a wheelchair for months?
If you're poor and brown, you go to jail. If you're a rich white TV celebrity like Tony Veitch, you get community service and a possible anger management course (plus no doubt a fat new TV contract).
Equal justice for all? Yeah, right.
But what's most offensive isn't the sentence as such - its the fact that Veitch was allowed to plead down his serious assault charges to "reckless disregard causing injury". So instead of having to admit that he assaulted someone and It's Not OK, he gets to further minimise his actions, just as he did in his "apology". He didn't mean to hurt her - he was merely being reckless when he beat her to the floor and kicked the crap out of her. This is the worst sort of self-justifying bullshit from an abuser - but thanks to a desire for a quick "win", our courts and justice system are now a party to it. Maybe someone should tell them that It's Not OK...
