I. That the changes in the law which were regarded by the Mazengarb
Committee as calling for immediate action were duly and promptly
brought into being by the Government by and through its 1954 amendments
to the Indecent Publications Act 1910, the Child Welfare Act 1925, and
the Police Offences Act 1927.
II. That the changes made last year in the Indecent Publications Act
1910 have been to some extent effective and helpful. We recommend,
however, that consideration be given by Government to the redrafting of
the Indecent Publications Act 1910 and to the inclusion in any new
draft of the amendments suggested by the Department of Justice.
III. That it is clear that the suggestions made by the Mazengarb
Committee for administrative action by certain named Government
Departments along the lines indicated by that Committee have
been sympathetically studied by the several Departments and that
satisfactory measures have been taken by such Departments to carry
out the recommendations of that Committee.
IV. That in the opinion of the present Committee the Child Welfare
Division should not be reconstituted as a separate and independent
Department of State, but that it should remain, as at present, a Branch
or Division of the Department of Education.
V. That Government should take effective steps to set up a broadly
based committee composed of men and/or women of expert knowledge and
possessed of specialized training and wide experience to act as a
fact-finding body so that as far as possible a reliable diagnosis may
be obtained of the extent, causes, and incidence of the problem of
delinquency in this Dominion. We think that this must be done before
any thorough-going solutions can be propounded for consideration by
Government.
VI. That the suggestions made by the Department of Justice with respect
to "comics" in general and "crime comics" in particular and also with
regard to "suggestive" magazines and periodicals appeal very strongly
to the members of the present Committee, and we accordingly recommend
that the Government should take action along the lines proposed by the
Justice Department.
VII. That every effort be made through the Parent-Teacher and Home and
School Associations to reach the greatest possible number of parents
and prospective parents in order that they might be given the type of
assistance referred to in greater detail in the body of this report.
VIII. That, for the better attainment of the object set out in the
preceding paragraph, it is recommended that the Director of Education
be asked to confer with appropriate experts with a view to the
provision of suitable courses of lectures for parents and prospective
parents.
That with the same end in view steps should be taken to increase the
numbers of our visiting teachers, school psychologists, and public
health nurses.
IX. That the Director of the National Broadcasting Service be supported
in the course he proposes to follow to put into effect the suggestions
made by him in this report. We also stress our view that during the
hours set apart for listening by children there should be a complete
absence of features that can fairly be regarded as being unsuitable for
or injurious to young children.
X. That on the question of contraceptives the Committee has but one
recommendation to make--namely, that the Government should seriously
consider whether it could be made a criminal offence for any one but a
chemist acting in the ordinary course of his business to sell such
articles to any member of the general public.
R. M. ALGIE, Chairman.
BY AUTHORITY:
R. E. OWEN, GOVERNMENT PRINTER WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND.--1955
_Price 1s. 6d._