Government apology ‘genuine’ but lacked clear timeframe for redress, says survivor

Wednesday, 13 November 2024

Taraia Brown was sexually, physically and psychologically abused from the age of 6 while she attended the Shiloh Christian Academy in Motueka. The abuse lasted until she was 15 years old.

She has calculated that during this time she had been beaten on over 1800 occasions, receiving an average of four or five blows every time. This amounts to approximately 7200 painful strikes across her thighs, bottom and back.

On two occasions, the beatings were so severe she had to be hospitalised for serious bruising and swelling.

Nine years of abuse that culminated in a lifetime of trauma.

On Tuesday, Brown was present at the town hall in Christchurch alongside other abuse survivors to listen to the Government apologise for decades of abuse, neglect and in some cases, torture.

While the official apologies were delivered at Parliament in Wellington, emotions were running high where the proceedings were live-streamed at Christchurch’s town hall. At one point, two supporters helped a crying survivor leave the hall. Her sobs could be heard echoing from the foyer outside.

‘Horrific, heartbreaking, wrong’

It was a “significant, sorrowful, but important day”, said Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. A day the Government finally apologised for the abuse suffered by those in state and faith-based care.

“It was horrific. It was heartbreaking. It was wrong. And it should never have happened,” said Luxon.

“… your stories left many of us stunned that this could have happened here in New Zealand. But not you. You knew the truth because you lived it, and you have waited and waited for people to start listening to you.

“Now New Zealand has listened. Words do matter and I say these words with sincerity: I have read your stories, and I believe you. It is my duty as the current Prime Minister to formally recognise that the abuse you suffered should never have happened.

“Recognition that is long overdue. Today, I am apologising on behalf of the Government to everyone who suffered abuse, harm and neglect while in care. I make this apology to all survivors on behalf of my own and previous governments. You deserved so much better.

“And I am deeply sorry that New Zealand did not do better by you.”

Luxon said work would begin to remove memorials, including street names, public amenities and public honours, of proven perpetrators of abuse and that there would be a National Remembrance Day on November 12 next year, to mark the one-year anniversary of the apology.

Maree Turner, a survivor of 14 years of sexual and physical abuse while in state care, said she was almost expecting to be offended by the Government’s apology. She was pleasantly surprised.

“I liked the fact that it wasn’t just a blanket apology for all the abuse that had occurred, I liked that [the prime minister] had broken it down into all the different ways that we were abused and the different types of people that were abused. That personalised it a bit more, I guess.”

She believed both Luxon and Labour leader Chris Hipkins were genuine in their apologies. “The biggest thing for most of us is an apology means you don’t do it again. So they’ve got to sort it out right now, they can’t continue abusing children. Now is the time to stop.”

In his apology, Luxon said he hoped that the apology and acknowledgement of survivors’ burden would help that burden become “a little lighter for some of you”.

Brown didn’t think survivors would walk away feeling lighter. “We weren’t actually given anything new today. We knew that the apology was coming, [but] we haven’t actually been given timeframes of what the next steps are.”

She believes the apologies were genuine and heartfelt. “I do feel validated and I do feel acknowledged as a survivor, but I’ll still carry that until I feel that justice has been served.”

Brown says she had hoped to hear specific details of the Government’s plans for redress with clear timelines of when it was going to happen, rather than Luxon’s vague promise of having “a new single redress system operating next year”.

Given survivors have repeatedly said the Government is taking too long to come up with appropriate redress, a solid timeframe was “really the big piece that was missing”, she says.

“What I really did appreciate hearing today was the politicking put aside and the coming together of the government parties to work together to get the redress sorted and make sure all of the recommendations from the [final Royal Commission of Inquiry Abuse in Care] report are implemented.”

In his apology, Luxon said an additional $32 million would be invested in the current redress system to increase its capacity while a new redress system was being formulated. The Government would also establish a $2 million fund to support organisations already helping survivors.

Brown said legislative change was critical in achieving appropriate redress. This included changing statute of limitation laws that restrict access to justice for survivors and removal of ACC restrictions.

Her lawyer, Mobeena Hills, added that without civil litigation reform, institutions will continue to fold their arms and do nothing as there is nothing holding them to account.

“The Royal Commission Inquiry [said] that on average the economic cost of abuse is around $900,000. However, the average offers of settlement for historic abuse claims in New Zealand is around $20,000.

“Human life and the impacts of human wrongdoing on such a life should be worth more than an apology and more than $20,000,” said Hills.

Turner said finally being in a room with other survivors reminded her that she wasn’t alone in what she had experienced as a child. “I just wanted to reach out and touch other people to help them, but I would’ve liked if someone had reached out to me too because I was in a room full of survivors but I was standing there still feeling very alone.”