The Government intends to outlaw the strip-searching of children and strengthen regulations to prevent people with overseas convictions from working with children as part of its response to the “heartbreaking” magnitude of abuse suffered by hundreds of thousands at the hands of the state.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and minister Erica Stanford, who is responsible for responding to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in state care, today detailed proposed changes to four pieces of legislation that would:
- Remove strip searches of children in care and provide new search powers for people visiting youth justice facilities.
- Strengthen restrictions for people working with young children.
- Enforce better record-keeping by government agencies.
- Include disability in the definition of vulnerable adult.
STORY CONTINUES AFTER LIVE BLOG
- Christopher Luxon will detail the Government’s response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in state care.
- Luxon and Stanford are expected to propose changes to legislation to make the state care system safer.
- Survivors are calling for a redress scheme to facilitate compensation for the abuse they suffered.
There isn't anything he likes in the Treaty Principles Bill, Luxon said.
He refers to it once again as a compromise between Act and National as part of the coalition agreement.
He wouldn't support a conscience vote.
On the hīkoi, he said he understood the depth of feeling from Māori about the Treaty Principles Bill.
He said National won't be changing its mind about not supporting it at second reading.
The Prime Minister said he was open to meeting with protesters when they arrive at Parliament next week.
Luxon said what harm supporting the Bill at first reading could do to National's support wasn't one of his considerations.
Luxon said he didn't regret the first reading support of the Treaty Principles Bill being in the coalition agreement, calling it a reality of the MMP system where governments have many different perspectives from different parties.
The Prime Minister said the behaviour of journalist Aaron Smale was previously raised with Newsroom.
He said this wasn't about asking tough questions, but other actions.
There was a number of issues that had been raised from staff in other offices.
It was up to Newsroom to determine how to handle that.
Stanford said she is "nervous" ahead of the event tomorrow.
She met with a number of survivors on Monday morning and they are "emotional".
She wants the event to go right for them and officials have been going over all the details to make sure it goes as well as it possibly can.
"I want tomorrow to go really well as I think everyone does," she said.
She said it was "extraordinary" that the first question survivors ask is how she is doing considering all they have been through.
They have been waiting for decades for this.
Luxon said it is the complexity that is holding up a redress system when asked whether it is the complexity or the cost.
He said it is unacceptable that children can be strip-searched and people with serious offences can work in these institutions.
The legislation being introduced tomorrow will address this.
Stanford said some of this work is "quite technical" and not something that is easy to change.
Compensation will be part of Budget 2025, Luxon said.
At the moment, the focus has been on the design of the redress system, he said.
Who will be eligible for the compensation is part of the conversation.
Asked what was the hold-up on redress for state abuse survivors, Stanford said the Government had been working extraordinarily hard since the tabling of the report.
She said the Government had taken a number of actions already, including some payments to some survivors and drafting the legislation to be introduced on Tuesday.
"We have been working on an enormous amount of things," she said.
Redress is a very complex piece of work, she said, and ministers will have more to say in the future.
Luxon said the Government is doing all it can to ensure the country's systems and processes stop this happening again.
He said there is no amount of money that will make this fine for survivors.
The Prime Minister said ministers are meeting regularly, "often many times a week", to advance the response to the Royal Commission.
He said he appreciated survivors want answers soon, but the response needs to be done correctly.
The Prime Minister said he will leave for Peru on Thursday to attend APEC. He will return on Monday.
He called the summit "a big deal" for New Zealand.
On Thursday, there will also be the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill.
Luxon reiterated that National will only support the legislation to Select Committee.
Stanford, the lead coordination minister, said the stories of the survivors will be forever etched on the pages of New Zealand’s history.
A priority of the Government’s response is the safety of children in care today and into the future.
The legislation being introduced tomorrow will:
- Remove strip searches of children in care and provide new search powers for people visiting youth justice facilities.
- Strengthen restrictions for people working with young children.
- Enforce better record keeping by Government agencies.
- Amend the Crimes Act to include disability in the definition of vulnerable adult.
Luxon expressed his "tremendous gratitude" to the survivors who have shared their stories as part of the Royal Commission of Inquiry.
Providing more detail on how the Government will respond, Luxon said tomorrow, the focus will be solely on the apology.
He said there is nothing he can do to make up for what the survivors endured, but he hoped the apology would help.
Legislation will be introduced in the afternoon with a range of measures to strengthen the safety of children and others in state care.
Preventing abuse from happening in the future is a legacy we owe survivors, Luxon said.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has arrived at his post-Cabinet press conference alongside minister Erica Stanford.
He said tomorrow he would be making an apology on behalf of the Government for state abuse.
He said it would be a significant day.
He said the individuals should have been safe in institutions, but were in some cases tortured.
Christopher Luxon is expected to detail the Government’s legislative response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in state care.
The Prime Minister and Erica Stanford, the minister responsible for the Government’s response to the inquiry, will speak at a post-Cabinet press conference at 4pm.
A livestream can be found at the top of this article.
