Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he had to leave to prepare for his own formal Crown apology but maintains he's fully engaged in the process.
Chris Luxon’s absence during survivor speeches was disrespectful according to lawyer Sonja Cooper.
Luxon briefly attended the event but left to prepare for his apology speech in the house.
Cooper, who has assisted over 3500 survivors, was sceptical of the government’s $32 million investment in the existing redress system.
A lawyer who’s been working on state and church abuse cases for almost two decades says the Prime Minister’s absence during speeches delivered by survivors on Tuesday was “disrespectful”.
Prior to Chris Luxon’s formal apology in the House, an event was held at Parliament’s banquet hall, where government agency bosses acknowledged their respective failures and survivors spoke of the impacts of neglect and abuse at the hands of state and church institutions.
Sonja Cooper, principal lawyer at Cooper Legal, who was herself abused by a Catholic priest, has worked with survivors since 1995.
Sonja Cooper prinicpal lawyer and partner at Cooper Legal in Wellington.
She told the Herald Luxon should have listened to survivors at the banquet hall.
“I thought it was incredible that he did not personally sit in with the survivors – the four survivors who did the apology at Parliament. I just I think that is disrespectful.”
Luxon attended the banquet hall event briefly but said he had to leave to prepare for his apology speech in the House. He maintained he was engaged in the process and said he would be spending more time with survivors.
“I think Chris Hipkins did a much better apology than the Prime Minister did. Hipkins actually restored some of the mana of the apology coming from the House,” she said.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and abuse in care lead minister Erica Stanford are working on the Government's formal response to the Royal Commission's 138 recommendations. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Survivor Kieth Wiffen, who was sexually and physically assaulted at Epuni Boys’ Home as an 11-year-old, told the Herald Luxon not being present for survivors’ speeches, which included his own, was “the only downside” of his performance.
“It needs to be balanced against his sincere speech, and the fact he happily engaged with survivors in the aftermath.”
During Wiffen’s speech, he emphasised the need for immediate action from the government, especially when it came to establishing an independent redress scheme.
”The public has invested heavily in this inquiry and like us expects outcomes. You (the Government) gave hope, and you raised expectation that redress would soon be delivered. It’s time to deliver for those words to have meaning. Do the right thing,” he said.
During the formal response from political leaders, no concrete information was given about a revamped financial redress system for survivors. That’s despite the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s interim report stating as far back as 2021 that the existing system was “ineffective”.
“I want to assure you it is our intention to have a new single redress system operating next year,” Luxon said.
$32 million would be made available to prop up the current system in the interim, he said.
She believed it was about beefing up resourcing of existing ministries so they can pump out more of the “terrible redress packages” they’re already offering survivors.
“It’s going to be resourcing the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Education, and presumably the Ministry of Health, to sign up more survivors to full and final settlements. That’s mitigating the Crown’s potential future liability.”
The Royal Commission made 138 recommendations for change and the Government has started work on 38 of them.
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won the best coverage of a major news event at the 2024 Voyager NZ Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’svideo team in July 2024.
