More money released for shooting victims
Victim Support is ramping up its payments to victims of the Christchurch terror attacks after those injured in the shootings complained about the slow response.
The move comes as victims plan to form a trust to help fairly distribute money raised in other funds beyond the $10.2 million donated for Victim Support.
A spokeswoman for Victim Support said more funds would be distributed over the next few days, but details of the extra payments would be made public next week.
One man shot at the Deans Ave mosque said he had been talking to Victim Support and was expecting several thousand more dollars from the fund to assist with his living expenses. He did not want to be named for fear of disrupting the payment.
Lawyer Andrew Oh has been helping some victims find a way to ensure that money raised outside of the Victim Support fund reached the right people.
A Victim Support fund has raised $10.2m and a separate fund run by the New Zealand Islamic Info Centre has raised $2.7m, but several other funds have attracted hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations. A fund run by the Canterbury Muslim Community Trust has raised $155,000.
Oh, who was working for the victims pro bono, said he was looking at forming a trust to represent all victims.
‘‘The victims are frustrated because donations have been collected on their behalf but they have had no real involvement over how that money will be distributed.
‘‘We have a group of people who have felt marginalised anyway in our society and this is not helping.’’
He said a trust could agree on a process for how donated money would be distributed to families of people killed, those injured, and those present at the shooting.
‘‘We need to have a clear process on how this money will be distributed to give people confidence that when they donate a dollar they know what’s happening with that dollar.
‘‘All we want is for the victims to know that money collected in their name for them is being distributed in a fair and even manner.’’
A spokesperson for the CMCT, which is administering a fund of $155,000 donated to victims, said ‘‘we don’t do interviews’’. A spokesman for the Muslim Association of Canterbury was unable to comment.
Victim Support had last week paid out about $1.7m from the fund to 800 people affected by the terror attacks, including $5000 for each injured victim and $15,000 for families of people killed.
But many injured in the attacks wanted the government agency to release more money as soon as possible. Many were worried about how they would support their families in the long term as some cannot work while they recover.