Apology to abuse victims
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has delivered a formal apology to Australia’s victims of child sex abuse, saying the nation must acknowledge their painful journey and say sorry.
His speech delivered in Parliament before hundreds of survivors followed the conclusions of a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the nations’ highest level of inquiry.
The four-year inquest that delivered its final report in December revealed shocking evidence from more than 17,000 survivors and heard allegations against government, church and private institutions, as well as prominent individuals. It also heard evidence from leaders such as Vatican Cardinal George Pell, who is charged with committing historical sex abuses.
Morrison said it was time to confront key questions. “Why weren’t the children of our nation loved, nurtured and protected? Why was their trust betrayed?” he said. “Why did those who know cover it up? Why were the cries of children and parents ignored? Why was our system of justice blind to injustice? Why has it taken so long to act? Why were other things more important than this, the care of innocent children? Why didn’t we believe?” Morrison said nothing could be done to right the wrongs inflicted on children. Rescuers searched through wreckage yesterday after one of Taiwan’s fastest passenger trains derailed on a curve along a popular weekend route, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 180 others.
The Puyuma express ran off the tracks late on Sunday as it went around a bend, throwing train cars into a zig-zag pattern with five left lying on their sides. There was no immediate word on the cause.
Survivors said the driver had applied emergency brakes multiple times before the train derailed.
Most of the deaths were in the first car, and it was unclear whether other people were trapped in the train, according to a government spokesman.
Some passengers were crushed to death, Ministry of National Defence spokesman Chen Chung-chi said. “Their train car turned over. They were crushed, so they died right away,” Chen said.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited the crash site in Yilan County yesterday and said her Government had instructed the authorities to work quickly to investigate the cause of the derailment.
The train had been carrying more than 360 passengers from a suburb of Taipei in the north to Taitung, a city on Taiwan’s southeast coast.
The train had its most recent inspection and major maintenance work done last year, a Taiwan Railways spokesman said.