A place founded by a sex offender, who was jailed and then welcomed back to the community afterhis release. A cult that has bred and protected sexual predators like Jonathan Benjamin, who was last month sentenced to 11 years for his crimes.
Horrifically, the list of crimes that we know have been committed by men at Gloriavale against women, girls, and boys living there is too long to list here. Numerous sex crimes, assaults on children with a weapon, virtual slavery and allegations of more.
In my view, these are not isolated incidences or a few bad eggs. This is the leadership of a cult. It has been baked into the foundation of the community from the beginning.
I believe the evidence shows exploitation is at the heart of how Gloriavale operates. Girls are forced to begin working for the men from age 6, become full-time servants from age 15, when they are forced to leave school, and then are married to men so the cycle of exploitation can continue. Gloriavale survivor, Lilia Tarawa says beatings and forced marriages are commonplace.
It’s estimated more than700 people live at Gloriavale. By the leadership’s own admission - most of them have known no other life. We have failed them.
It is only thanks to brave women who have come forward to shed light on the abuse, the work of dedicated journalists (such as the makers of the new docuseries Escaping Utopia) to uncover the truth, and the commitment of Henry and other lawyers working pro bono that we are finally beginning to see Gloriavale for what it is.
For too long, government agencies have dealt with Gloriavale’s leaders with kid gloves. They tried to work with the cult leadership, who duly issued a public apology two years ago and promised to be good from now on. And we know how that worked out - Howard Temple, the leader who promised change, continues to rule as head of the cult.
Even after all the crimes, a co-ordinated cross-agency response to Gloriavale was only launched in 2022, and was scrapped by the new Government at the end of last year when Cabinet chose not to extend funding for the work. Priorities, eh?
Henry is taking government agencies to court on behalf of the women and children of Gloriavale whom they have failed to protect for decades.
And all this horror is propped up with taxpayer money. The cult (which Henry estimates has $65m in assets and just purchased a new property near Lake Brunner for expansion) gets millions of dollars a year in government payments. Because the women aren’t paid anything, they can get Working for Families payments, which the leadership grabs. Millions are also paid for the ECE centre and “school” that the cult runs. The cult even has charity status.
The Government needs to act. Photo / George Heard
What can be done?
The Government needs to act. I’m backing Brian Henry’s call on Prime Minister Luxon to shut down Gloriavale.
Prime Minister, you are a man of God - you cannot let this abomination continue. Don’t let this cult continue to exploit and abuse women and children in the name of Christianity.
The time for trying to “work with” the cult leaders has passed. Strip it of its charity status. Seize its assets – in my view, they are proceeds of crime. Free the women and kids, and help them establish new lives. Pass special legislation, if needed, to destroy this disgrace to our nation.
I believe businesses should stop dealing with Gloriavale, too. Companies that buy their milk and other products need to realise they are partnering with sexual predators, and they are tainted by that.
For decades, we have turned a blind eye to Gloriavale; ignored them as harmless throwbacks. We were wrong. And while we looked the other way, the cancer grew. It’s time to take the scalpel to it and cut it out.
