Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent ahead of Chris Luxon's apology to abuse in care survivors

The Prime Minister says complexity has slowed the delivery of redress for Abuse in Care survivors, not cost. 

Chris Luxon will apologise in Parliament tomorrow, after a Royal Commission report cast light on decades of harm in state and faith-based institutions.

Legislation to improve protections for children and disabled adults - and improve Government record keeping - will then have its first reading. 

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says delivering financial redress for survivors will take more time.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Barriso seeing your political correspondence with us. Hey Barry, good afternoon, Hill. Okay,
So I mean have the survivors of abuse in state
care got a point that apologizing without dealing with the
redress is kind of getting they should be done at
the same time.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Well, this thing's been going on for six years the
Royal Commission, Yeah, and the government took it over. And
what Chris Luxin has said in his post cabinet news
conference that's just finished. He said that compensation will be
part of the budget next year's budget, but it's making

(00:33):
provision for don't forget Lake Alice. Some Lake Alice patients
who were tortured. They got twenty thousand dollars. And the
point that Luxon did say was that money is not
going to cure the harm that was done, and it's
not so tomorrow it will be just about an an apology.

(00:55):
But after that there will be a bill introduced at
the House immediately and apparently one of the big bug
bears of patients that went through the system with strip searchers,
particularly of children and care the won't they'll be outlawed
in this new law that'll be read for the first
time after the apology is made, so they'll be the

(01:15):
first reading and it'll go then to a Select Committee.
But survivors expecting anything more than an apology tomorrow will
be disappointed. Compensation, like I said, Chris Luckson says, won't
come immediately tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
Our focus is solely on the apology and we are
expecting around two hundred survivors at Parliament and a further
one thousand people watching via livestream events in Auckland, Wellington
and christ Church. And I know there is nothing I
can do or say that we'll ever make up for
what survivors endure it but I do hope that in
some small way the apology might help with their healing.

(01:50):
As we have said, the Government will progress further decisions
on our response to the recommendations in the report throughout
twenty twenty five, including our plans around financial redress.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
It's a really difficult one, isn't it, because how do
you arrive at a s how do you decide who
was treated more poorly than others. It's a very complex issue,
There's no doubt about that, and that was made pretty
clear by the Minister Responsible, Ericus Stanford, and also the
Prime Minister.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Well Mark Jennings was on before. He couldn't tell us
why Jerry Brownly had unbanned his journal because he promised
not to tell on Jerry, can you explain what's.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Going on here? Well, look, this is a very difficult one. Essentially,
the Prime Minister has said that his office and other
officers in the Beehive had complained about Aaron Smiles's behavior.
It's not just in questioning it was and this is

(02:49):
what's sort of every theory about it. We don't know
what the behavior was. Essentially, Jerry Brownie, what he would say,
I think is that he tried to contact newsroom after
the gallery approved the accreditation. It's temporary accreditation for the
apology tomorrow and Aaron Smail has done a lot of

(03:10):
work on it and certainly with survivors of the state
care and essentially Jerry Brownly apparently tried to contact newsroom.
They didn't contact him back, didn't return his calls. And
it seems that today after he had made the band,
because he had had these complaints to deal with, then

(03:33):
the contact was made by a newsroom and the band
was lifted. That's as I understand it. But look, if
it was questioning that God and band, you'd have to say,
what were they? What did they have to complain about?
Have a listen?

Speaker 3 (03:46):
Is this going to lead you to rethink you?

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Of course on games?

Speaker 3 (03:49):
Given that many of game members are victims. Well, what
I'd say to you is what it has led us
to do is to say means sorry.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
Can you say to the game names what would you
say to them?

Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well? Look, I understand many game members that come from
very dysfunctional upbringings. I get that, but also we can't
have gang members causing pain and suffering. It is a
volume on the connections. I've read that space.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
See that's simply hectoring, and I remember.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Muldoon, that's not even hectory.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
Well, it's you know, it's basically injective questions. So but
lux and he told journalists there were issues that have
been discussed with newsroom now about the journalist's behavior, and
that's why it was raised with the speaker.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
There's a number of issues that have been raised from
not just my team, but also from staff from other
offices as well that we're reflected in conversations with newsroom
and as a result, you know, that's up to them
to determine how they might want to handle that behavior,
but for us whatever the Speaker of Sites is fine
by me.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
So there you go. I mean it's sort of up
in the air. You don't know why now the band
was really imposed what was said by Beehive officers. But
you know, the the case of a journalist ever being
banned by the speaker at Parliament is so rare. Yeah,
like I said, it happened to me in the eighties
with Muldoon and the Speaker wanted me to apologize to Muldoon,

(05:12):
which I didn't do. But then the snap election was called.
Tom Scott of course was banned by the speak by well,
Muldoon recommended the Speaker ban him and he was. So
it's very very rare that it ever ever happens. And
I think probably Jerry's reflecting on this and maybe newsroom
will come back and give a better explanation than what

(05:34):
they've given.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Hitherto Barry, thank you very much, Very Soper, Senior political correspondent.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
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