John MacDonald: Our handling of Gloriavale is a national shame

Surely this is the final straw for Gloriavale. Or, more to the point, surely it’s the final straw for the Government.  

Because it is absolutely shameful that it still exists.  

This final straw, by the way, is the Court of Appeal ruling announced yesterday that the BNZ has every right to close the community’s bank accounts. For the simple reason that it doesn’t want to do business with them anymore.  

And good on the Court of Appeal. More to the point, good on BNZ, which could turn out to be the outfit which does the most for those poor sods stuck there.   

It will probably also force the hand of all those businesses on the West Coast that have been quite happy to turn a blind eye, as long as they get to do business with them and make a crust.  

Because aside from being a place where kids are treated like slaves, where women are treated like sex slaves and lord knows what else, it is also a large business. A large financial entity which includes two trusts and 13 companies.  

And there are many people who have done alright out of Gloriavale. They’ve made money servicing their property and everything else that needs doing at a place like that.

But for how much longer? The lawyer representing the people who have escaped the place and who took Gloriavale to court for ripping them off with all the crazy work hours is saying today that Gloriavale should be shut down.

He’s putting responsibility for that on the Government.

I would like nothing more than for that to happen, but I’m not sure whether the Government actually has any powers to do that.

But either way, this has to be one of this country’s greatest embarrassments. That, for years now, concerns about Gloriavale have been raised and —aside from the odd court case where creeps who have committed sex crimes have been hauled before the courts— Gloriavale’s been allowed to just keep on keeping-on.

What happened, which led to yesterday’s ruling, is BNZ told Gloriavale that it wanted to close all of its accounts – citing its human rights policy.

Gloriavale said ‘you can’t do that’, claiming that if they lost their bank accounts, their whole future would be in jeopardy. So they took the bank to the High Court and managed to get an interim injunction which forced BNZ to keep the accounts open.

The idea was that there would be a hearing down the track to decide whether BNZ would be in breach of its contract with Gloriavale if it closed the accounts.

But the BNZ wasn't going to sit around and wait for that to happen, and it went to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal considered the case and released its finding yesterday that BNZ has every right to choose who it does and doesn’t do business with.

The fact that it has a human rights policy makes it pretty clear, I reckon. Although I bet there will be some people going through BNZ’s list of other clients to see if it’s following its human rights policy to the letter and isn't just singling-out Gloriavale.

But I wouldn’t even care if the BNZ was singling-out Gloriavale because that place needs to go. And if shutting down its bank accounts is one way to force it out of existence, then bring it on.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Morning's Podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk z B.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Surely, surely this is the final straw for Glory of Al,
or more to the point, surely it's the final straw
for the government, because as far as I'm concerned, it
is absolutely shameful that this outfit on the West Coast
still exists. The final straw, by the way, if you're
wondering what it is, it's the Court of Appeal ruling

(00:35):
announced yesterday which says the B and Z has every
right to close the Glory of Ale bank accounts for
the simple reason that the bank doesn't want to do
business with them anymore. And good on the Court of Appeal.
More to the point, good on b in zed. You
don't have people saying that often, do you about banks?

(00:57):
But good on B and Z, which could turn out
to be the outfit which does the most for those
poor sods stuck over there on the West coast. It
will probably also force the hand of all those businesses
on the West Coast that have been, you know, quite
happy to turn a blind eye to that terrible outfit

(01:17):
as long as they get to make a crust out
of them. As long as they get to do business
with Glory of Veil, Because aside from it being a
place where where kids are treated like slaves, where women
are treated like slaves, where women are treated like sex slaves,
and lord knows what else, But aside from all that,

(01:38):
it's also a large business. It's a large financial entity.
It includes two trusts and thirteen companies. And there are
many people who have done all right out of Glory
of Veil. They might not admit it, but they will.
They've made money servicing the property and doing all sorts

(01:59):
of other things that need doing at a place like that
which Gloria of Vale calls in people from the outside
to do. But for how much longer do you reckon? Well,
the lawyer representing the people who have escaped the place
and who took Gloriavale to court for ripping them off

(02:19):
with all the with all the crazy workhous he's saying
today that Gloria Vale should pretty much be shut down today,
and he's putting responsibility for that on the government. You know,
I would like nothing more than for that to happen.
I would love to see the gates closed at Gloria
Vale by lunchtime, but I'm not sure whether the government

(02:42):
actually has any powers to do that. We'll find that
out when we talk to the lawyer for the Glory
of ail Leavers shortly. But either way, this has to
be one of the country's greatest embarrassments that for years now,
concerns about Gloria Vale have been raised. And you know,
aside from the odd court case where creeps who have
committed sex crimes have been hauled before the courts, you know,

(03:05):
aside from that, Aside from the Labor Court ruling, aside
from that, glory of Vale, or I should say, despite
all that glory, Vale has been allowed to just keep
on keeping on, you know, tic tic tech for all
of those things I just mentioned. But is that all?
It's not enough. Cops have been in to have a

(03:28):
look ordering a Tallmadiki's been there as well, but that's it.
And like I say, the country needs to be ashamed.
So what happened which led to yesterday's ruling? As B
and Z told Gloria Vale, we want to shut down
your accounts, we don't want to do business with you,
and we've got a policy to back that up. It's

(03:50):
called our human rights policy. And Gloria Vale. That's it all.
You can't do that, And they claimed that you know,
they lost their bank accounts, their whole future would be
in jeopardy. How sad would that be? A and so glory.
They went running to the High Court and they managed
to get an interim injunction which basically forced the B

(04:13):
and Z to keep the bank accounts open. The idea
being that there would be a hearing down the track
to decide where the B and Z was in breach
of its contract with Gloria Vale with this plan to
close down its bank accounts and the B and Z.
B and Z wasn't going to sit around and wait
for that to happen, so I went to the Court
of Appeal. The Court of Appeal considered the case and

(04:35):
released its finding yesterday, which says B and Z has
every right to choose who it does and who it
doesn't do business with the fact that it has a
human rights policy makes it pretty clear I reckon, Although
I tell you what, I bet there will be some
people going through B and z's list of other clients
to see if it's following its human rights policy to

(04:56):
the letter and isn't just singling out Gloria Veil. But
I'll tell you what, as far as I'm concerned, I
wouldn't even care if the B and Z was singling
out Gloria Vil. I wouldn't care if they were just
picking on Glory of Ail because they wanted to, Because
I think they have every justification to pick on Glori
of Ail because it's a place that needs to go.

(05:19):
And if shutting down its bank accounts is one way
to force it out of existence, then bring it on,
I say. Before now, apparently the almighty leaders at Gloria
Vale have said that they've been trying to find another
bank to work with. From what I've been reading this morning,
it's unclear how much success they've had with that, which
is probably one reason why the lawyer're representing the ex

(05:41):
Glory of Ail people, probably one reason why he wants
the government to do it's and intervene as well. But
either way, here's my position. Gloria Veil has to go.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
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