Prime Minister Christopher Luxon addressed abuse survivors gathered in Parliament and watching from across the country, acknowledging horrific grief.

“You have been heard. And we believe you,” Luxon declared in the debate room.

“I am sorry that you were not believed when you reported your abuse.

“I am sorry that many bystanders – staff, volunteers and carers – turned a blind eye and failed to stop or report the abuse. I am sorry that state surveillance of people in care was so mediocre.

Christopher Luxon apologizes to Parliament.
Photo: Screenshot

“I am sorry that many abusers have not been brought to justice, meaning more people have been subjected to abuse that could have been prevented.

“I regret that the State has not acted quickly and boldly enough to put in place much better protection for people in all settings of care, and that those acting on behalf of the Crown have you lost sight of the people behind the complaints.”

Some in the public gallery stood to listen to his words, one of those occasions when only a few seats remain empty.

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Recognition and apologies took a long time to arrive. While more action – including appropriate compensation and reparations – is needed, this is a start – something Luxon itself has also acknowledged.

“Clearly, words need to be matched by actions,” he said. “We must do the right thing by you and provide you with the support you need. Second, we must do everything we can to prevent abuse from happening in the future.”

He said many survivors were unwilling to engage in the current compensation process – but more than 3,500 were – and he signaled that an additional $32 million would be pumped into that system “while we work on the new appeal system”.

Opposition Leader Chris Hipkins said he had formally joined the government in apologizing, saying the day was an important step forward.

“Today is an extremely important day for all of you to finally hear what the Crown has failed to deliver to you all these years, an apology. It is an extremely important day for us – the representatives of the Crown and successive governments – that we finally acknowledge the thousands of experiences of neglect, abuse, trauma, torture, and that we finally fully acknowledge our failures and offer our sincerest apologies.

“We are sorry. Today, all of Aotearoa New Zealand will bear witness to the truth, to what survivors have experienced, to our decades of willful ignorance, denial, minimization and our belief in put an end to these horrors and these despicable acts.”

He said the country owed a huge debt to the survivors.

Labor leader Chris Hipkins also apologized.
Photo: Reece Baker/RNZ

Survivors speak out

Fa’afete Taito
Photo: Provided

Earlier, three survivors were also selected to speak.

Fa’afete Taito recognized those who had “gone to join their ancestors” and others who had come forward but were ignored.

“Without you, there would have been no today.

“It hurts to dig around the pain. But beyond that, what we wanted and what we needed was some accountability for what happened to us.”

He said survivors would see what accountability looked like.

“Regardless of what happens today, it is our collective power that will contribute most to our healing journey. We owe it to ourselves.”

Keith Wiffen, who spent time at the Epuni boys’ home, said he had already heard “meaningless words” from the state. He also paid tribute to those who died before seeing an apology or effective reparations presented today, calling on the Prime Minister to work on it.

“You have given hope and raised hopes that redress would soon be granted. It is time to act.

“Prime Minister, you must hold churches and faith-based organizations to account. You must hold them to do the right thing because the state has an obligation to all children under its roof.”

Tu Chapman called for the Ministry of Children, Oranga Tamariki, to be abolished, telling the Prime Minister “you owe us right away”.

Placed in state care before he was two years old, Chapman remained there until he was 17.

“Five minutes. That’s all each of us got to speak for tens of thousands of survivors in response to today’s apology. Five minutes for decades of abuse, neglect and torture from those who run the state, the Church and faith-based organizations five minutes is all this regime has given us to respond to the Prime Minister’s excuses that we have not even heard yet.

“Prime Minister, put your money where your mouth is.”

Public sector apology

Andrew Bridgman
Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER

The day began with Chief Minister Erica Stanford welcoming 250 survivors to Parliament’s banquet hall, telling them “today it’s you”.

“You will never be forgotten. The stories of thousands of brave survivors will forever be etched in the pages of our history.”

They also heard from leaders of public sector agencies, with Andrew Bridgman from Oranga Tamariki acknowledging the fear and abuse faced by children in state care.

“When you asked for help, we didn’t listen. When you showed us the bruises, we looked away…we’re sorry we didn’t give you a safe place to grow up.”

Some in the audience shouted that “sorry isn’t enough,” and others shook their heads in disbelief as Bridgman spoke.

Health director-general Diana Sarfati said the health system had failed, with insufficient systems for reporting abuse and neglect – and a failure to act when it was reported.

“In some cases, this so-called treatment was so heinous that the United Nations and the government recognized it as torture. This abuse was carried out by people in positions of authority who survivors should have trusted, including caregivers and health workers. “.

Education Secretary Andy Johnson acknowledged that the care and needs of survivors should have been the priority “and it wasn’t…it wasn’t your fault…our failures have spread to many communities and cultures.

“An apology without change is abuse,” one crowd member shouted as Jackson received sporadic applause.

Social Development general manager Debbie Power said the department may have thought it was taking children out of harm’s way, “but we were often putting you in harm’s way. We didn’t always protect you, I’m deeply concerned about that Sorry”.

“Our appeals process did not always work properly. I accept the Royal Commission’s conclusion that for some of you the process was slow, traumatic and contentious.”

The public response to Power has been the loudest so far – with some calling on him to release their records – but the strongest response has been reserved for Solicitor General Una Jagose, responsible for Crown law.

Sometimes she had to stop speaking, struggling to be heard among the crowd, even as some walked out.

“I’m here today to tell you I’m sorry,” she said.

“No it’s not,” one person said. “You wanted us dead,” said another; “You never treated us with dignity”; “You got a lot of money to silence us.”

“I won’t look away. We will do better,” Jagose concluded to boos and some applause in the room.

Acting Police Commissioner Tania Kura received a much calmer response and the loudest applause, acknowledging that police had sometimes harbored biases against victims, sometimes disbelieving the stories or failing to investigate.

“We didn’t ask questions if you fled and we trusted the explanations of the people we brought you back to. These failures spanned decades across multiple police administrations and, as current commissioner, I takes full responsibility.”

Finally, the Public Service Commissioner acknowledged the inability of the public sector to guarantee and enforce standards of integrity and conduct of public servants.

“I regret that we have not always fulfilled our responsibilities.”