A year ago, survivors filled Parliament’s forecourt to hear a historic apology from the government.
Twelve months on, Eugene Ryder - who spent years fighting for justice for survivors - says many are still unhappy, though he acknowledges that progress has been made.
But for others, like Ihorangi Reweti-Peters, the sense of frustration remains.
“To be frank, I haven’t seen any real progress on a new, fair, independent single redress system. Where is that redress system?” he asks.
Adding to survivors’ concerns is a recent law change allowing the redress payments of those who have served five years or more in prison for serious crimes to be reviewed by an independent decision-maker.
“If you apply for a benefit or other support from a government department, you’re not excluded if you have served a prison sentence,” Ihorangi says.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care uncovered decades of systemic neglect and mistreatment across state and faith-based institutions, leading to widespread calls for accountability and meaningful redress.
Survivors have long argued that without implementing the inquiry’s full recommendations, the government’s apology remains hollow.
Over-representation of Māori in state care
Māori children were significantly over-represented in the care system during the period the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care looked at (1950-1999). For example, in the late 1970s, it was estimated that about one in every 14 Māori boys and one in every 50 Māori girls were living in state institutions.
Additional data show that in 2020, Māori made up 68 % of children and young people in care and 74 % of those in youth justice custody, despite Māori being a much smaller proportion of the child population
Māori made up more than 40 percent of all survivors who gave evidence to the inquiry - a stark reflection of how colonisation, racism, and intergenerational trauma made Māori children far more likely to be taken into state care.
Many described being punished for speaking te reo Māori, disconnected from their whānau, and trapped in cycles of abuse that shaped their adult lives.
During question time on Wednesday, Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson challenged Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to commit to implementing all of the Royal Commission’s central recommendations. Luxon responded that the government is still working through the 207 recommendations.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins admitted that successive governments have failed survivors, adding that the Government’s promises to those abused in state and faith-based care have so far proven hollow.
“It’s been a year since the apology and we’ve seen a disgraceful lack of progress on the Royal Commission’s recommendations, as survivors continue to face injustice,” Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said.
“Survivors are due the independent redress they’ve been waiting years for.
Te Huarahi Whakamua
I a rātou e anga whakamua ana, e ū tonu ana a Ihorangi ki ōna wawata kia whakatinanahia katoatia e te kāwanatanga ngā tūtohutanga a te kōmihana Pūwherowhero, kia kore anō e pā mai tēnei āhuatanga ki Aotearoa.
“What needs to happen today and moving forward is that all recommendations from the inquiry need to be fully implemented and make sure this never happens ever again” Says Ihorangi
Hei tā Eugene ko te whainga matua kia mutu ngā tūkino tamariki i Aotearoa whānui.
