Christopher Luxon calls for witnesses to alleged '80s politician paedophile ring to speak out

2:20 pm on 26 July 2024

Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Prime minister Christopher Luxon says anyone with evidence about claims of a paedophile ring involving politicians and civil servants in the 1980s should go to police.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care's report was made public on Wednesday, and included a small section about a confidential separate investigation into claims of a paedophile ring in the 80s.

The report said the investigation began early in the inquiry's process and considered seven broad allegations, including that children were sexually abused by former central government politicians and prominent public servants in Horowhenua and Wellington.

However, it said the investigation was challenging and significant time was spent building trust with potential witnesses.

"Some people who may have held relevant information did not want to provide a witness statement or survivor account to the Inquiry because they were fearful of repercussions due to the powerful position formerly or still held by their alleged abuser."

One witness provided first-hand direct evidence of organised abuse of children and young people in social welfare care settings, and two survivors alleged they had been sexually abused by different individual former central government politicians. One survivor said he witnessed the repeated rape and sexual violation of several non-speaking children at the Kimberley Centre near Taitoko Levin.

However, "none of the allegations of organised group abuse in State care settings ... were able to be substantiated by direct evidence," the report said.

"While the evidence that the Inquiry received is deeply suspicious, the Inquiry is unable to make a finding that organised abuse of children and young people in State care occurred by groups of people in public positions of influence."

One case was transferred to police, who provided an update in November 2023 saying progress had been hindered by challenges in finding evidence.

Asked about this, Luxon called for anyone else with evidence to bring that to police.

"What we've said is: we want people to come forward to police for any prosecutions or further investigations that's needed, but on that particular issue as you're aware there was deep concerns about those allegations, but the Royal Commission of Inquiry itself wasn't able to make a finding on that because there wasn't substantiated evidence," he said.

He had also been asked about the matter on Thursday, and said the government would support investigations being reopened and new prosecutions being taken if needed.

"Yes, we will. And again there's quite a lot of complexity to that in the sense of if you are one of the survivors and you've told your story to the Commission of Inquiry those records are sealed, because that's how they want them to be."

"Of course we would want people to come forward and actually work with police to advance any further investigation on that."

It was traumatising for many people to go back through the process of providing evidence again, but survivors should be able to access their own records through the Survivor Experience Service if they wanted to provide that to police.

"We do encourage people to come forward so that police, in fairness, can actually go through a process of investigation."

The roughly 3000-page, 16 volume report did lay out much more firm evidence on widespread abuse and neglect throughout the period covered from 1950 to 1999, including systemic physical, racial, ableist, and disablist abuse perpetrated throughout state and faith-based care.

This included medical abuse, solitary confinement, and conditions akin to slavery. Some 82 percent of the survivors who spoke to the inquiry reported having been sexually abused.

It found that "most of the factors that led or contributed to abuse and neglect during the Inquiry period continue to persist".

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