New Zealand says sorry to 200,000 victims of ‘horrific’ abuse in state, church care

Those exposed to ‘unimaginable’ abuse in state, foster and faith-based care over a 70-year period were disproportionately Maori

Reading Time:4 minutes

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is shown on a screen on Tuesday as he makes a “formal and unreserved” apology in parliament for the widespread abuse, torture and neglect of hundreds of thousands of children and vulnerable adults in care. Photo: Stuff via AP

Published: 12:32pm, 12 Nov 2024

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made a “formal and unreserved” apology in parliament on Tuesday for the widespread abuse, torture and neglect of hundreds of thousands of children and vulnerable adults in care.

“It was horrific. It was heartbreaking. It was wrong. And it should never have happened,” Luxon said, as he spoke to lawmakers and a public gallery packed with survivors of the abuse.

An estimated 200,000 people in state, foster and faith-based care suffered “unimaginable” abuse over a period of seven decades, a blistering report released in July said at the end of the largest inquiry ever undertaken in New Zealand. They were disproportionately Māori, New Zealand’s indigenous people.

“For many of you it changed the course of your life, and for that, the government must take responsibility,” Luxon said. He said he was apologising for previous governments too.

In foster and church care – as well as in state-run institutions, including hospitals and residential schools – vulnerable people “should have been safe and treated with respect, dignity and compassion,” he added. “But instead, you were subjected to horrific abuse and neglect and in some cases torture.”

You were subjected to horrific abuse and neglect and in some cases torture

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon

The findings of the six-year investigation believed to be the widest-ranging of comparable probes worldwide were a “national disgrace”, the inquiry’s report said. New Zealand’s investigation followed two decades of such inquiries around the globe as nations struggle to reckon with authorities’ transgressions against children removed from their families and placed in care.