March 29, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 9, 1428

WELLINGTON: Hundreds of protesters took to New Zealand streets on Wednesday protesting a proposed law which would ban parents from hitting their children to discipline them.

At least 400 people marched to Parliament in Wellington chanting slogans against the bill, which was due to be debated by legislators later in the day.

In Christchurch, the largest city in the nation's South Island, about 1,000 banner-wielding protesters turned out to oppose the legislation.

The proposed law -- popularly known as the anti-smacking bill -- appears to have majority support of the country's 121 legislators, but polls have shown a heavy majority of New Zealanders oppose it.

Pollsters Colmar Brunton polled 1,000 voters and found 83 per cent believed parents should be allowed to smack their children.—AFP