Lake Alice survivors’ mixed response to Government’s redress payment scheme

There has been a mixed response from Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit survivors after the announcement of a redress scheme.

Lead Coordination Minister Erica Stanford today announced the redress will consist of three components: a one-off payment which recognises an individual’s experience of torture as a child, a new written apology which explicitly acknowledges torture, and facilitating access to support and rehabilitative services.

Stanford said eligible survivors can choose either an expedited payment of $150,000 or an individual payment process, where each claim is assessed by an independent arbiter who will make determinations on payment amounts.

The survivors have until April 30, 2025 to choose the individual payment process and until September 30 for the expedited pathway.

Rosemary Thomson was at Lake Alice for eight days when she was 13. Photo / Jimmy Ellingham, RNZ

Auckland barrister and Lake Alice survivor Rosemary Thomson told Newstalk ZB the redress announcement was positive this side of Christmas.

“The Government is making good on their promise a few weeks ago, so I take it as a very encouraging sign,” she said.

“Successive Governments have done nothing and it has just been drifting for years. It’s good that something has finally happened.”

Thomson said people’s lives had been compromised by going to Lake Alice.

“Relationships, friendships, personal relationships, education opportunities...have all been denied when they found out Lake Alice was involved,” she said.

“I was only there a total of eight days, but that had a profound effect on my life.

An aerial view of Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital. Photo: PUBLIC DOMAIN/ https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7629585

“There is not a day I don’t think about it.”

However, she said there could be a mixed response to the redress from other survivors.

“Some will obviously appreciate a payout while others may not be so happy about that.”

Karilyn Wildbore, who was sent to Lake Alice as a young teenager in the mid-1970s, said the $150,000 lump sum payment fell well short of what the Royal Commission had advised.

“Compared to what the Royal Commission said it should be it’s a lowball because they were over $800,000. It doesn’t really add up,” she told RNZ.

Malcolm Richards, who was tortured at Lake Alice in 1975, said the package was pitiful.

He told RNZ “$150,000 is what most abuse state victims got without being tortured so it’s a ridiculous amount...and the help is very vague”.

How much will the redress scheme cost?

Stanford said both options will be administered through the Crown Response Office and up to $22.68 million has been set aside, including operating costs.

She said payments in both processes will be complete by the end of 2025 and be made on an ex-gratia basis.

“A number of survivors of the Lake Alice Unit have made clear to me the importance of choice. For some certainty and pace are a priority, for others an individualised process is more important.

“This approach provides flexibility for survivors and is more responsive to the different experiences of torture that survivors had at the Lake Alice Unit.

“Independent legal advisers will be available to assist survivors in the decision about which pathway to opt for and any other legal advice required to inform their decision.”

State Abuse Response Minister Erica Stanford, responsible for the Government's response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in state care, during her press conference where she revealed a redress package for those who were tortured at the Lake Alice facility, at Parliament on December 18. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Stanford said most survivors had been through redress before, so would likely know the process. She said they would have legal support separate from the Government.

In November, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon issued a historic official apology to the estimated 200,000-plus people 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, Luxon apologised and told survivors they “deserved so much better”.

“I am sorry you were not believed when you came forward to report your abuse,” he said.

“I am sorry that many bystanders – staff, volunteers and carers – turned a blind eye and failed to stop or report abuse.

“I am sorry the state’s oversight of people in care was so poor.”

Luxon admitted his words might “count for little” to some and must be accompanied by actions.

He pointed to the Royal Commission’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”.

A National Remembrance Day would be held on November 12 next year to mark the one-year anniversary of the apology.

He also committed to work removing street names, public amenities, and public honours that highlighted “proven perpetrators”.

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 NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.