Prime Minister Christopher Luxon delivers a national apology to the survivors of abuse in state care. 12 November 2024
The Responding to Abuse in Care Legislation Amendment Bill has had its first reading in Parliament on Tuesday.
The Bill will make changes to multiple Acts, and will:
Remove strip searches of children in care and provide new search powers for people visiting youth justice facilities.
Strengthen restrictions for people working with young children.
Enforce better record keeping by Government agencies.
Amend the Crimes Act to include disability in the definition of vulnerable adult.
It comes after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon issued a historic official apology to the estimated 200,000-plus thousands who were abused in state and faith-based care institutions over decades.
With around 200 abuse survivors watching on from the public gallery at Parliament today, Luxon delivered the national apology.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Erica Stanford, Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions, spoke to the media after the official apology today. Photo / Mark Mitchell
He made specific mention of those who were tortured at the Lake Alice facility.
“Young, alone – and subjected to unimaginable pain. I am deeply sorry.”
Luxon admitted his words might “count for little” to some and must be accompanied by actions.
He pointed to the royal commission of inquiry’s 138 recommendations, saying the Government had either completed or was progressing 28 of them.
Noting financial redress was very important to many survivors, Luxon reiterated his earlier comments that no amount of money would make up for the abuse.
He accepted the current redress scheme was not fit-for-purpose and announced $32 million of Government funding to “increase capacity in the current system while we work on the new redress system”.
“But I want to assure you it is our intention to have a new single redress system operating next year,” he said.
The Prime Minister also revealed a National Remembrance Day would be held on November 12 next year to mark the one-year anniversary of the apology.
“This will provide us with an opportunity to stop and reflect on what you endured and ensure we are doing all we can to prevent future abuse.”
He also committed to work removing street names, public amenities, and public honours that highlighted “proven perpetrators”, a move welcomed in hushed tones by some in the gallery.
However, the apology will not come alongside details about the Government’s plans to compensate those who suffered at the hands of the state, with Luxon yesterday confirming announcements on a redress scheme would not come until early next year.
Abuse survivor Paora Moyle was a former member of the Crown’s inquiry response unit but stepped down partly due to a lack of action concerning compensation.
She told the Herald the Government had failed to act in a timely enough fashion.
“I think there should have been some s*** in place way before now.”
Abuse survivor Paora Moyle will be in Parliament to hear the Government's apology for the state's abuse of thousands while in its care.
She believed today’s apology was somewhat undermined by the lack of a redress scheme to back it up.
Te Ohaaki A Hine/National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together spokeswoman Jo Bader echoed Moyle’s criticism, saying redress was a top priority that “should have happened yesterday”.
“That’s not something that should be put off till 2025,” Bader said.
“While it’s progress that they are actually taking steps, they ought to have been taken a really long time ago.”
Luxon denied suggestions that cost was the determining factor behind the compensation scheme timeline, instead citing its complexity and the principles on which a scheme would be based as the current considerations.
Erica Stanford, the lead minister co-ordinating the Government’s response to the inquiry, said many recommendations were being addressed but the redress scheme was an “extraordinarily complex piece of work”.
Luxon and Stanford yesterday spoke together on the Government’s plans to progress several law changes inspired by some of the inquiry’s recommendations.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and inquiry response minister Erica Stanford will be central figures during Tuesday's proceedings. Photo / Mark Mitchell
They included outlawing the strip-searching of children and strengthening regulations to prevent people with overseas convictions related to serious harm from working with children.
Luxon said the individuals who were abused in care should have been safe in institutions, but were in some cases tortured.
He expressed his “tremendous gratitude” to the survivors who have shared their stories as part of the Royal Commission of Inquiry.
It was “unacceptable” that scenarios such as strip searching of children were still permitted in New Zealand, he said.
Stanford acknowledged the issue of children being strip-searched had been on the Government’s “radar” for some months. Claiming the changes were “quite technical”, Stanford cited official advice that said it would have a limited impact on the workforce but she maintained it was worth progressing.
She said the stories of the survivors would be forever etched on the pages of New Zealand’s history.
Moyle again criticised the Government for not acting soon enough, saying ministers should have outlawed strip-searching years ago as she and others called for it.
Moyle would be one of the few survivors in Parliament today for the proceedings, which would begin with several public sector leaders – including those from police, social development, health and Oranga Tamariki –making apologies for their agencies’ role in facilitating the abuse.
Asked how she was feeling ahead of the apology, Moyle said, “What will be will be,” and noted how nothing would change unless the Government “put [its] money where [its] mouth is”.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
