Calls For Promises To Be Kept, One Year After Abuse In Care Apology

Checkpoint

Survivors
have criticised the government’s response to the Abuse in
Care Royal Commission and have used the National
Day of Reflection as a platform to call for promises to
be kept.

A year on from the Prime Minister’s apology
for abuse in care, survivors have come together at more than
60 events around the country.

In Christchurch, more
than 100 survivors and their supporters gathered at
Validation Park, the site of the former Marylands School
where horrific abuse was inflicted on children.

Eddie
Marriott – who suffered sexual, physical and psychological
abuse at the hands of the Brothers of St John of God at
Marylands School – said he was hurt no politicians joined
survivors on Wednesday.

“They don’t want to front us,
which is traumatising in itself because it’s like we don’t
count,” Marriott said.

“That’s the thing – we’re not
seen, not heard, not important.”

He said he was
suffering from the heartache of promises not kept by the
government.

At last November’s apology, Prime Minister
Christopher Luxon told survivors that a new independent
redress scheme would be established and the government would
“do the right thing by you and provide you with the support
you need”.

In this year’s budget the government
declined to create the independent redress system and only
increased redress payments available to survivors by about
$10,000 to an average of $30,000 – about a third of what
survivors in Australia receive.

Mental Health Minister
and Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey was invited to Wednesday’s
event in Christchurch, but could not attend as he had to be
in Wellington to attend parliament.

Hanz Freller, who
this year received a King’s Service Medal for services to
survivors, agreed with Marriott that the survivors were
being forgotten.

“Where are the MPs? I would’ve
thought that they would’ve been here today. Not all of them,
of course, but definitely some of the more prominent ones
who have overseen the Royal Commission … and they’re not
and that’s really sad. They’re saying they’re here for us
and they’re not – they’re not even here on our day,” Freller
said.

Terry Kingi sat in parliament as the Prime
Minister made the apology on behalf of the government last
year.

“I’m very disappointed,” he said.

“The
promises they made on the 12th of November last year in
parliament do not reflect what we have seen a year later.
There’s been a lot of broken promises, a lot of disillusion
and a lot of survivors feel totally let down.”

David
Williams, who suffered abuse in state care at boys homes and
borstals, said the government’s words now seemed
hollow.

“This Day of Reflection is for survivors. I
don’t look at it as a year on from the apology because the
apology didn’t mean nothing. It stood for nothing,” Williams
said.

Advocate Ken Clearwater laid down a challenge to
the government.

“Support survivors, don’t treat us as
second-class citizens. We have lived experience and we know
the damage that can be done and we also know what needs to
be done for healing,” Clearwater said.

“It takes a
village to raise a child. The government have had 100 years
since the Children’s Act and you’ve f****d that up badly, so
it’s time now that you gave the children back to the
village.”

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