Kerre Woodham: Thank heavens for the bravery of those who spoke at the Abuse in Care inquiry - Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

For those older survivors of abuse in state and church care, I wonder if you ever, ever thought this day would come?  

When you could tell your story without fear of being further beaten and abused and called a liar. When you would be listened to and believed and told that the fault for what has happened to you, the grievous hurt that you have suffered, is not your fault.  

It's the fault of sadistic, depraved adults who should never have been put in the position of looking after vulnerable children. It's the fault of organisations that were so hell bent on protecting their holy reputations, that rather than punishing the abuser, they just sent him away, giving them new opportunities to hurt and destroy the lives of more young children. 

When you look at your own children or grandchildren, 7-year-old boys and girls – look at them - they are beautiful humans. Half baby, half child but you can see the full adult they're starting to become.  

So full of potential, so full of promise and they love life and they love you, and they trust you, and you wonder how on Earth any adult could betray that trust and brutally hurt the bodies and souls of those children?  

Well wonder no more. 2944 pages of evidence will tell you exactly how adults did that.  

It's the largest and most complex inquiry ever held in New Zealand, and thank you to all of those who took part. The Commission members, which must have been a grueling job and the witnesses.  

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care was six years in the making. And every page is a page of families. Families in the first instance, who either neglected their children, couldn't be bothered with their children, abused their children sufficiently, that the state intervened, and then in came the institutions and the churches.  

And they all failed these beautiful, vulnerable young people they were supposed to be protecting. The report was released to the public yesterday afternoon. It contains 138 recommendations and Parliament acknowledged receipt of the report, with speakers from across the House:   

“We like to think that abuse like this doesn't happen here in Aotearoa, New Zealand but it did, and it is a shameful chapter of our history that we must confront. And Mr. Speaker, this is a dark and sorrowful day in New Zealand's history. And it's important that as a country, we bring to the surface and we understand the hard truths of what happened so we can try and move forward together. And I say to the survivors, the burden is no longer yours to carry alone. The state is now standing here beside you, accountable and ready to take action.” 

That was Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. This is leader of the opposition Chris Hipkins:  

“Mr. Speaker, I want to address the Prime Minister and thank him for his words. Our government set up this inquiry and we made some changes. We changed the redress rules on an interim basis and we did set up the Survivor Experiences Board, but Prime Minister, we didn't do enough. And the ball now falls to you and your Government. This must be bigger than politics. Mr. Speaker, we owe it to the survivors and to future generations to finally deliver justice, and to finally end the ongoing abuse that happens in state care. This work will extend beyond the life of any one government, so we should work together to make sure that happens.”