Nick Mills: The report into abuse in care is a volume of horror

OPINION

Yesterday was a black day in New Zealand history.

If you were anything like me, you sat there and watched and read the most horrific stories of abuse in state and faith-based care, struggling to believe this abuse happened in New Zealand. 

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care is a volume of horror.  

The report describes the abuse as a national disgrace that will remain a stain on our national character forever. 

It found fault with successive government ministers and departments as well as police, schools, and a range of religious organisations.

The highest rates of sexual abuse were reported at Dilworth School, Marylands School in Christchurch and across the Catholic Church. There were reports of abuse against a massive 14% of all clergypeople over the period the report covered. 

But it was so much more widespread than that. The report estimated of the 655,000 New Zealanders in care between 1950 and 2019, 30 per cent or 200,000 were abused and many more neglected.

The true number of survivors could be much higher.

The memories are horrific. 

In some cases, carers went to extremes to inflict as much pain as possible. Electric shocks, violence and sexual harm was common. 

Then there’s the harm from vulnerable children simply being ignored, seen as less than others and shown no love. 

In one example, staff at the Kimberley Centre in Levin, which ran for 61 years, took payment to allow outsiders to come in and rape young people in the centre's care. 

Then there are the youth boot camps, where a gun was brandished in front of young boys who were then raped. Eighty per cent were Māori. 

There are too many stories to even scrape the surface. All of them are horrific. All of them make you feel sick. 

All of them should explain why people who grew up in care went on to commit crime, join gangs, use drugs and display violence more than those who weren't exposed to such harm.

Then there’s the abusers.

The abusers were respected community members. They were unskilled workers and caregivers. They were educated professionals like teachers and medical staff including psychologists and psychiatrists. They were religious leaders. They were men and they were women. They were young and they were old.

They were horrific people who committed horrific crimes, and most of them were never held to account.  

One survivor said they felt dirty, they felt incredibly vulnerable, and they thought if they spoke out they would be killed by their abusers.

This is the power the abusers had.

There were 138 recommendations from the report, including calling for apologies from the government, the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday was a dark and sorrowful day in NZ's history.

He said he couldn't take away the pain but, but told survivors he believed them.

The Minister responsible for the report Erica Stanford said the abuse destroyed lives. 

She mentioned the stories of the unwed mothers who were deliberately underfed because the staff wanted to have easy births and small babies.

The mothers were then drugged up and had their children taken. They never got to hold them.

She says it will take time to work through the report’s recommendations and options for redress. And that’s where our minds turn today. What are the next steps?

A formal apology in November aims to provide more clarity on the next steps, but the focus now has to be on two things.

One; redress for everything that happened. And two; a proper plan to ensure something like this never happens again.  

The most horrific part of the story to me is that so many people in positions of power knew this was going on. Yet no one spoke up. 

No one cared enough to help people who were suffering. The abuse continued for decades. 

Name them shame them now. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talks at b.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
But yesterday was a very black day in New Zealand history.
And if you were anything like me, you sat there
and watched, you read some of the horrific stories, shocked
that something like this could absolutely happen in New Zealand.
The Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse and Care was released.

(00:38):
It was a fourteen kilogram document that has been six
years in the making. I call it a volume of horror.
I think it was worse than anyone could have ever imagined,
simply unimaginable physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse. The report

(01:01):
describes the abuse as a national disgrace that will remain
a stain on our national character forever without retrace. It
found fault was successive governments, government ministers, departments, as well

(01:23):
as police, school and a range of religious organizations. The
highest rates of sexual abuse were reported at Dalworth School,
Maryland School and christ Church and in the Catholic Church generally.
There were reports of abuse against a massive fourteen percent

(01:46):
of all clergymen over that period of the report, but
it was far more widespread than just that. The report
estimated that of the six hundred and fifty five thousand
New Zealanders in care between nineteen fifty and nineteen twenty,

(02:09):
nineteen thirty percent, or two hundred thousand were abused and
many more neglected. The true number of survivors could be
much higher, and the stories are simply horrific. In some cases,

(02:30):
staff went to extremes to inflict as much pain as possible.
Electric shocks, violence and sexual abuse were common. Then there's
the harm from children just simply being ignored, seen less
than others, showing no love. In one example, staff at

(02:56):
the Kimberly Center and Live In which ran for sixty
one years, took payments to allow outsiders to come in
and rape young people in its care. Then there was
the youth boot camps, where a gun was banished in
front of a young boy who were then raped. Eighty

(03:18):
percent of these were Maori. And there's too many stories
to even scrape the surface this morning. All of them horrific,
all of them make you feel sick, and all of
them should explain why people who grew up in care
went on to commit crime. They joined gangs, they used drugs,

(03:43):
more violence, more violence. They grew up with it. Then
there's the abuses. The abuses were respected community leaders, unskilled workers, caregivers,
educated professionals like teachers, and medical staff included it, including
psychologists and psychiatrists, and there was all so religious leaders.

(04:08):
There were men, they were women, they were young, and
they were old, and they were horrific people who committed
horrific things and most of them were never held to account.
One survivor said they felt dirty, felt incredibly vulnerable. They
thought of they spoke out, they would be killed by

(04:28):
their abusers. And this is the power the abuses had.
There are one hundred and thirty eight recommendations from the report,
including calling for apologies from the government, the Pope and
the archbishoph of Canterbury. Prime Minister Christopher Luxen said yesterday
it was a dark and sorrowful day in New Zealand
history and he's thankful to survivors for their strength and

(04:51):
courage and honesty. He said he couldn't take away their pain,
but I can tell you today you were heard and
you were believed, the Prime Minister said thead Minister. The
minister responsible for the report, Erica Stanford, said abuse destroyed lives.
This part got to me. She mentioned the story of

(05:16):
an unwed mother's more than one story. They were homed
that were deliberately under fed because the staff wanted them
to have easy birth and small babies. The mothers were
then drugged up and their babies taken away from them.
They never even got to hold them. That is confronting,

(05:39):
she says Eric Stanford. That is it will take time
to work through the reports, recommendations and options for redress,
and that's where our minds turned today. What are the
next steps? A formal apology in November aims to provide
more clarity in the next steps, but focus now has
to be on two things, redress for everything that happened,

(06:03):
and a proper plan that whatever changes are needed to
ensure something like this never ever happens again. And the
most horrific part of the story for me is so
many people, so many people in positions of power, knew
this was going on, yet no one spoke out. They

(06:28):
let it happen in front of their eyes. Two hundred
thousand people abused, no one spoke out, No one cared
enough to help those people that were in need, the
vulnerable people in our community, the ones that needed and
the abuse just continue decade after decade after decade, Name them,

(06:51):
Shame them, and now.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills. Listen live
to news talks They'd be Wellington from nine am week days,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio