Birchings all round?

An entertaining discovery in the Legislative Council of Western Australia’s proceedings for 13 August 2003.

Under the heading “CONVICTED OFFENDERS, CORPORAL PUNISHMENT”, the Honourable Frank Hough proposed: “That the Government take such action to empower the courts with the discretion to impose corporal punishment on convicted offenders in certain circumstances.”

Mr. Hough was a spokesman for Agriculture; presumably he was supporting the local birch and rattan farmers. The gentleman holds some robust views, to put it mildly: “People say that corporal punishment is barbaric. That is rubbish. Anyone who says that corporal punishment is barbaric is a pansy.”

“We must start being tough. We cannot go on with this airy-fairy punishment we hand out. The offenders do not even get a tap on the bottom. They get work orders, for which they do not even turn up half the time, or small fines. The deterrent for the little boy or girl who touches the hot stove is the memory that it hurt. I am suggesting that if the big man and the big girl do something to us, and they get the cane or the birch, they remember it…. The birch is both painful and humiliating.”

“The effect of applying the birch to offenders is to modify behaviour in two ways: to deter some people from offending and others from reoffending. Birching offenders may be seen as retributive because, first, offenders have consciously broken the law and deserve the punishment; and, secondly, the punishment should be at least equal to the amount of harm done to the victim. I do not see a problem with giving perpetrators the same amount of pain as their victims received.”

He then went on to list a long line of birchable offences. ‘Mistreatment of animals’ was included. Note to self: must stroke all stray dogs nicely if I’m ever in the area.
 
An interesting discourse on other countries followed, with a detailed discussion of the Singaporean approach. “Other countries that have considered, used in the past, or presently use judicial corporal punishment include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe…. In Turkey, corporal punishment is used in schools and other institutions. Furthermore, paddling is an accepted form of corporal punishment in schools in Lebanon.” (Plenty of potential for further kinky research from that little list, methinks).

His views were supported by Hon John Fischer:

“The principle of reintroducing the birch should be taken one step further by ensuring that parents of juveniles attended the flogging. I believe that this would bring home to those parents the message that they are responsible for their children. The embarrassment caused would be an effective deterrent for both parties from future appearances.”

Why not go the whole hog and whip the parents too, while you’re about it, I wondered?

Wow. Amazing to think that politicians would propose this sort of motion as recently as 2003. Quite remarkable.