NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Toby Manhire: Our state-run child abuse shame

Toby Manhire
By Toby Manhire
NZ Herald·
27 Jul, 2017 05:00 PM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

More than 100,000 NZ children were made state wards in the second half of the 20th century. Photo / 123RF

More than 100,000 NZ children were made state wards in the second half of the 20th century. Photo / 123RF

Toby Manhire
Opinion by Toby ManhireLearn more

Disappointingly, when it was revealed this week that there will be an investigation into a historic case of transgression in New Zealand welfare, it was about the Metiria Turei shemozzle.

If all the huffing and puffing around the Green co-leader's admission she cheated the system back in the 90s could be harnessed, it would light up the national grid.

But better still, all that imperious energy would be much better applied to a much more grievous and attention-worthy case of welfare betrayal in New Zealand: the abuse of children in state care.

The latest heart-wrenching chapter in one of our country's most shameful stories was published just yesterday.

Departing disability rights commissioner Paul Gibson released a collection of testimonies from people with intellectual disabilities who lived in the haunted houses of public institutions -places where the state played custodian and tormentor.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Intellectually disabled children were beaten. Tied to their beds. Abandoned in seclusion rooms. Sodomised. Lobotomised.

"A lifetime of abuse and distress, and a life devoid of love and family," is Gibson's summary.

"Their abuse was physical, psychological and sexual." These are, he says, "the stories of New Zealand's stolen generations".

The allusion to the term used to describe the Australian Aboriginal children removed from their families through much of the last century - a hideous stain on our neighbour's reputation - can be no accident.

More than 100,000 NZ children were made state wards in the second half of the 20th century. In some cases they came from homes blighted by parental abuse or neglect. Some had fallen foul of the law.

Discover more

Opinion

Toby Manhire: I dreamed of ...

29 Jun 05:00 PM
New Zealand|politics

Toby Manhire: time for Greens to get a bit crazy

06 Jul 05:00 PM
Opinion

Toby Manhire: Our politicians on children

13 Jul 05:00 PM
Opinion

Toby Manhire: Party ads: No danger of going viral

20 Jul 05:00 PM

In other cases the children's parents had died or their families splintered. Placed in foster homes, in borstals and other institutions, many hundreds, if not thousands, were indelibly scarred, a blowtorch taken to their faith in humanity. The effects continue to play out today, strained through generations.

Probably the most insidious impact is on Māori. "The funnelling of Māori children into welfare institutions was the real start of our systematic mass imprisonment in this country," says Elizabeth Stanley, who tells the stories of more than 100 former state wards in her book The Road to Hell: State Violence against Children in Postwar New Zealand. Research shows that Māori in the same circumstances as Pakeha were more likely to be taken into state care - "the very definition of institutional racism or systemic discrimination", says race relations commissioner Susan Devoy.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Without an inquiry into the abuse suffered in our state run institutions," she adds, "we will never know its true extent."

Judge Carolyn Henwood, who led the Confidential Listening and Assistance Service, which heard from more than 1,000 victims of abuse in state care, puts it like this: "If we keep sending Māori children into care, they'll suffer. It is a destructive, self-fulfilling prophecy."

The wider findings of that Listening Service, which ran for seven years to 2015, like almost every account of these decades of abuse, invoke a mix of gut-churning disgust and awe at the survivors' courage.

Henwood's summary: "A picture was painted for us of a careless, neglectful system which allowed cruelty, sexual abuse, bullying and violence to start and continue. Through their words and tears, we could see the invisible welts and bruises, as well as the deeper hurt and emotional damage ... All the people who came forward to speak to us had struggled to make sense of their lives. All wanted a better outcome for the children of the future."

That Listening Service, however, stopped far short of an inquiry proper. It had " done half the job", said Henwood last year. But, "what we don't know is why it went on. We haven't investigated the department itself, we haven't spoken to staff ... So why wouldn't it happen again? ... We do not know the why of it."

And yet the government has repeatedly and steadfastly batted away appeals for a probe of the why. Their reasons? Among them: the trouble similar efforts have encountered overseas; the cost; the distraction; the claim that everything has been sorted in the overhaul of what is now the Ministry for Vulnerable Children.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Social development minister Anne Tolley has even asserted, "there's no evidence that it was a systemic problem". Even if you accept that curious statement to be true, it is a kind of nonsense: evidence is precisely what an inquiry would pursue.

And there's this, from Tolley: "The question I ask is what would we gain from an inquiry that revictimises the victims for whom we are trying to get some compensation and some settlement. It is appalling that we would put those people through that again."

A fair question. But while numerous victims have come forward to call for an inquiry, I've yet to see so much as a single victim arguing to the contrary.

The government has stressed that settlements have been reached with more than 700 victims, with direct apologies offered where sought. But still there has been no blanket apology - presumably at lawyers' advising.

Late last year Tolley, meanwhile, pointed out that "in some cases they've had an apology from me, and I was only a child at the time" - as if anyone was ever suggesting she was personally responsible.

Around the same time, John Key offered as one reason he wouldn't back an inquiry the fact that "you can never right the wrongs" of what happened - as if anyone was ever suggesting you could.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In recent weeks, Key's successor, Bill English, has perceptibly softened the government position, saying he's prepared to listen to representations from those affected. That's something.

But what's to hear? The Human Rights Commission has poured its energy into calling for a formal independent inquiry.

Carolyn Henwood agrees. So does Unicef. So does the Maori Women's Welfare League. So do a host of other experts.

Most importantly of all, victim after victim has come forward to demand the same.

On leaving his post as disabilities commissioner Paul Gibson exhorted the government to take action, to "restore the mana of the state". That is one hell of a chorus, and it is time to crack on.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New ZealandUpdated

Flights delayed at Auckland Airport as intense rain batters city, sparking surface flooding

09 May 05:38 AM
Crime

Avondale man accused of murdering partner loses name suppression

09 May 05:38 AM
New Zealand

First stage of Tarawera sewerage scheme complete

09 May 05:17 AM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Flights delayed at Auckland Airport as intense rain batters city, sparking surface flooding

Flights delayed at Auckland Airport as intense rain batters city, sparking surface flooding

09 May 05:38 AM

Motorists are being warned to expect hazardous driving conditions.

Avondale man accused of murdering partner loses name suppression

Avondale man accused of murdering partner loses name suppression

09 May 05:38 AM
First stage of Tarawera sewerage scheme complete

First stage of Tarawera sewerage scheme complete

09 May 05:17 AM
'Held together by wire': Mechanic's quick-fix on broken fire truck labelled 'Kiwi ingenuity'

'Held together by wire': Mechanic's quick-fix on broken fire truck labelled 'Kiwi ingenuity'

09 May 05:06 AM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP