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More seriously though, the Committee proposed such things as over-­‐riding powers of
supervision:
“In the case of all feeble-­‐minded persons living outside institutions, whether with relatives
or otherwise, the State should, in the interest of both such feeble-­‐minded individuals and of
society, have the ultimate right of supervision.”
(Section 4)
The Committee proposed people be legally compelled to submit the names of feeble-­minded
children for a register:
"Every parent, teacher of a school (either public or private), constable, or officer of a
charitable or kindred institution who is aware of the place of residence (either temporary or
permanent) of a blind, deaf, feeble-­‐minded, or epileptic child, and the householder in whose
house any such child resides, shall send notification of the
fact to the Minister, giving name, age, and address of the child.”
(Section 7)
The Committee suggests control over the reproductive rights of feeble minded persons and
the kindness of segregation:
“It is very important that marriages with registered persons should be made illegal, and, as
a corollary to this, that it should be made an indictable offence for any person knowingly to
have carnal knowledge of a registered person.”
(Section 9)
“In the opinion of the Committee it is of the utmost importance that mental defectives
should be prevented from reproducing.
It is altogether wrong to suppose that there is any unkindness in taking the feeble-­‐minded,
who are unable to battle for themselves, under the care of the State and preventing them
from bringing forth another generation of defectives. The real unkindness consists in
allowing such unfortunates to be brought into the world.”
(Section 11.)
1929
Templeton Farm School opened in 1929. It was located outside of
Christchurch and was the first to open following the Mental
Defectives Amendment Bill (1928) that allowed certain institutions to
be dedicated for the care and training of ‘mentally deficient’ children.
1930
In the 1930’s the Invalid’s and Sickness Benefits were introduced in
New Zealand.
1940
In the 1940s society became more aware of
Mental Illness and Physical Disability when
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