Survivors want action from royal commission

WELLINGTON: Survivors of abuse in state care hope to see some signs of remorse from the Crown over the next two weeks, as government agencies front the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care.

But some survivors have little faith the Crown will provide anything more than hollow answers.

The longrunning inquiry will hear from more than a dozen government agencies, who will be asked to explain their role in a system in which thousands of children were abused over decades.

It will question a range of agencies including the police, Oranga Tamariki, the Education

Ministry and the Public Service Commission about their failure to prevent and respond to decades of abuse.

Keith Wiffin, who was at the Epuni Boys’ Home in the 1970s, said he will be attending every day of the twoweek hearing, hoping to witness some accountability.

‘‘Bear in mind some of these officials have turned a blind eye.

‘‘They’ve been in denial. They’ve swept things under the carpet, and there’s been a lot of resistance,’’ he said.

‘‘So I would be asking questions of some of these officials like, ‘what have you done? What has been your advice to government?’ Because at times some of these officials, at least, have been more in supporting perpetrators than they have survivors.’’

Since it started in 2018, the Royal commission has had more than 2000 people give their evidence — and it is still asking for people to come forward.

It has heard from survivors like Mr Wiffin, who as a young child endured physical, sexual and psychological abuse as carers turned a blind eye.

‘‘I definitely want to see contrition. I want to see some openness, some honesty and transparency,’’ he said. ‘‘Most of all, what I want to see is a commitment to doing things much better in the future.’’

The inquiry has also heard from people who were torn from family as babies and sent to institutions that were little more than holding pens.

It has heard about boys’ and girls’ homes which were a pipeline to prison, or foster homes where, instead of care, children bore the end of a jug cord.

The inquiry has heard about government policy to tear Maori children from their culture.

It has also heard from people who were locked in solitary confinement for weeks, or fostered out effectively as slave labour.

It has heard from survivors who, when they tried to find answers, were only met with the callous indifference of bureaucracy.

Now it’s the State’s turn to front.

The commission, in a statement, said agencies would be asked what they knew about the nature and extent of abuse and what they did or did not do about it.

But Tupua Urlich, who gave testimony for the commission’s Maori hearings in March, has little faith he will hear any genuine explanation or remorse from chief executives backed by an army of lawyers.

‘‘It has to go far beyond just a ‘we got it wrong, we’re sorry, we understand’ because they don’t actually understand.

‘‘They don’t understand the effects on those who they’re doing wrong by,’’ he said.

Rather than hopeful, Mr Urlich said he was worried about what the next two weeks would bring.

He said thousands of people had laid their trauma before the commission, and hollow answers could just compound that hurt.

‘‘If a parent were to do that to their tamariki there would be consequences for them. But when it’s the government and when it’s a state agency put in charge of that role, they may get a stern warning from the public service commissioner and carry on.

‘‘When are we going to actually place some accountability on those that are paid top bloody dollar to do their job to do it right?‘‘

Public Service Minister Chris Hipkins said last week officials had started work on a national apology, and better redress for survivors.

But at the same time, the Government is also pushing ahead with controversial legislation to change how Oranga Tamariki is monitored, against widespread opposition and before the royal commission publishes its final recommendations.

Mr Urlich said that just added to his unease that an apology will be hollow, and nothing will be learnt. — RNZ