Thumping a foul-mouthed brat is one thing – blaming pakeha for her vile vocabulary is another

Alf recommends a meeting between Hone Harawira and the bloke who rained blows on his eight-year-old-daughter because “white people” had taught her to swear.

The wanker would soon learn from Hone that salty language is not the preserve of white people. Indeed, Hone has words in his repertoire of abuse that Alf would never want Mrs Grumble to hear or read.

The wanker in this case – a bit of a bully, too, by the sounds of it – is Steven Paongo, 41, who pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting a child in Hastings District Court yesterday.

Paongo, from Hastings, was in the driver’s seat of a car parked in the town centre on the evening of November 18 when a woman in a hair salon saw him leave the car and walk to the back passenger’s door. He opened the door and was seen hitting his daughter in “a rain of blows”.

Paongo’s arm was seen coming down on the child repeatedly. The witness left the salon and approached Paongo. She told him she had his car registration and would call the police.

Paongo stopped hitting his daughter and told the woman: “They swear, that’s what happens. I send the kids to school. They know they’re not allowed to swear. White people like you teach them how to swear.”

Abusing the woman in this manner was a tactical blunder, because presumably it got her back up and she called police.

When police and a social worker visited Paongo’s house the following day the door was answered by the victim. Her right eye had broken blood vessels, which she said had occurred when her father hit her. She said the injury had meant she could not attend school that day.

Paongo admitted hitting his daughter but said it had only been once and was with a jandal.

Actually, Alf has no problem with a bloke whacking his daughter for transgressions like swearing. It’s quicker than finding soap and water for a good old-fashioned mouth-cleansing.

But Alf does bridle at the racist nonsense this fellow has employed to explain how his daughter learned to swear.

For that reason he thinks Paongo got off lightly in being sentenced to one year’s supervision on any conditions set by his probation officer.