The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry's 3000-page final report is now public, this is how some of the politicians, key groups and churches reacted to its findings.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry report was tabled in Parliament today and MPs from all parties spoke in a debate to a packed public gallery of abuse survivors.
The Inquiry has found at least 200,000 people have been abused in state and faith-based care since 1950.
Government response
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that it was "profoundly disturbing" that most of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit between 1972 and 1978 did not have any form of mental illness.
"It is reprehensible that this has occurred in New Zealand," Luxon said in a statement.
"I want to thank the Lake Alice survivors for their determination to ensure what they suffered was brought to light. I am sorry it has taken so long for this acknowledgement of torture."
The Minister responsible for coordinating the Crown Response to the Abuse in Care Inquiry, Erica Stanford, told RNZ Lake Alice survivors - given their age - would be prioritised and today, the government had acknowledged what happened to them amounted to torture.
Stanford said everyone in Parliament would take on the recommendations and each minister would see what they could do in their own individual portfolios to make sure protections are in place.
Some recommendations - that suggested a complete overhaul and legislation changes would take longer than some other recommendations, she said.
Children's Commissioner
Chief Children's Commissioner Dr Clair Achmad said "the report must galvanise real action that makes change" and welcomed the government's announcement that it would make a formal apology in November.
Dr Achmad acknowledged the courage of those survivors who shared their experiences through the inquiry, but said state care and the youth justice system is continuing to harm children and young people.
"While the Inquiry's report spans experiences from 1950 - 1999, we know that widespread abuse in State and faith-based care did not end then. The Inquiry has heard from rangatahi who have experienced abuse in care much more recently," she said in a statement.
The inquiry highlighted that certain groups were over-represented in receiving harsh treatment, particularly tamariki and rangatahi Māori, she said.
Every case of child abuse, neglect and maltreatment was one too many and the care system must be safe and uphold the rights of all, she said.
"This is not a one-off call to action, but something we need to work continuously on as a nation. It's all of our responsibility to end the horrific abuse that is undeniably part of our recent history and our present, so we make Aotearoa New Zealand a safe, caring and inclusive place to be a child."
Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel
Health and Disability Commissioner
Health and Disability Commissioner Morag McDowell said the stories of those who told their stories would "serve as an enduring reminder that we must all work towards the collective change required to prevent systemic abuse and neglect".
The Health and Disability Commission continued to see a small but unacceptable number of cases where people had experienced abuse and neglect in care settings, she said.
"It is clearly unacceptable for people to be subject to trauma and harm in the places where they are meant to be safe, and by the people who are there to care for them. I support many of the recommendations of this report and will work to uphold people's rights with a view to improving systems and other safeguards to prevent continued recurrence of abuse and neglect," she said in a statement.
The Royal Commission highlighted the importance of independent advocates in mitigating the power imbalance between people receiving care and providers, she said.
Citizens Commission on Human Rights
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights said the government needed to make sure the abuse uncovered by the Royal Commission of Inquiry did not happen again.
Director Mike Ferris said it was now up to the government to redress the wrongs of the past and ensure a better future.
"The prime minister's announced he's gonna make an apology. That apology will be very important for survivors, but with an apology, there has to be some action," he said.
"What many of the survivors want is to have this never happen again to any child in care," Ferris said.
Labour Party
Opposition leader Chris Hipkins has committed to working in a bipartisan way on Abuse in Care recommendations and redress.
He said the inquiry's report was "harrowing and confronting" - and only the start of making amends.
Hipkins said the abuse occurred under successive governments of different stripes - and politicians would need to work across the House on redress.
"It's going to take some time, it's going to be hard work. The next steps of this process are going to span over multiple governments as well. This should not be about politics in any way, this must be about doing the right thing."
It was imperative politicians read the report in full, so survivors did not have to keep telling their stories, Hipkins said.
ACT Party
The Children's Minister said the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry has renewed her determination to break the cycle of family and sexual violence.
The Inquiry has found at least 200,000 people have been abused in state and faith-based care since 1950.
The Minister for Children - ACT's Karen Chhour said she had "personal trauma" from her own time in state care - and wanted the government to do better.
"This report has renewed my determination to break the cycle of family violence and sexual violence. It's time we faced this poison that is rotting our nation from the inside."
The government will make a public apology for abuse in state and faith-based care at Parliament in November.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Te Pāti Māori
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the government had already failed abuse survivors by ignoring their experience and allowing abuse in state care to still be happening today.
Ngarewa-Packer said all of Parliament needed to learn from the lived experience of survivors, otherwise the inquiry report was just lip service.
"Everything that you have told us in this has been ignored. Every experience that you have asked us to think about continues to be perpetuated by this monstrous system that you've talked about," she said in Parliament.
Ngarewa-Packer said the trauma of the survivors who told their stories was on the heads of all governments.
Green Party
The Green Party said the government must do all it could to bring abuse in care to an end.
Green Party spokesperson for children Kahurangi Carter said it was incumbent on the government to listen and learn from the stories of the survivors.
"This five-year inquiry involved painstaking collation of stories from people who have experienced grave mistreatment in care. We as a country have a duty to ensure this inquiry wasn't in vain."
Anglican Church
The Anglican Church issued a joint statement attributed to Archbishops Don Tamihere, Justin Duckworth and Archbishop Sione Ulu'ilakepa.
"We acknowledge and take full responsibility for our failures to provide the safe, caring and nurturing environment those
who have been in our care had a right to expect and to receive."
The statement also acknowledged the Anglican Church had failed to provide accessible "consistent processes of redress".
The bishops said that they supported in principle the establishment of an independent entity for the handling of future complaints.
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church is acknowledging the abuse and neglect that happened to the most vulnerable, while they were in care in faith-based institutions.
A statement issued by Bishop Steve Lowe and Father Thomas Rouse said the abuse of people in the care of the Church was real and the failures of Church leaders in responding to reports were real.
Leaders in the Catholic Church had a special role to play to ensure that the findings were not lost or confined to words in a report, it said.
