The world over, politicians are finding “sorry” to be the easiest word. Without disclosing the size and formula of the monetary compensation that the government is prepared to offer to those abused while in state care, a mere apology verges on being another form of abuse. It’s not as if the Luxon government in 2024, has had to white board the issues all over again. (The volume on redress for instance, has been with the Crown for two years.)
It seems important to stress that the abuse of power was not limited to actions, events and policies that happened in the 1940s through to the early 1980s, terrible as those experiences were. For at least two decades, the existence of extensive abuse of those in state care has been well known and was canvassed to some extent in previous reports. Meaning: the cover-ups and the wilful delays do not belong solely to the dim, distant past. The attempts to conceal information and to limit the procedures (and cost) of redress have continued right to the present day. Some of those culpable still occupy positions of power and responsibility.
For all those reasons, there is plenty of scope for healthy scepticism about the sincerity of today’s apology pageant. To some extent, the government is using these historical atrocities to showcase its own capacity for compassion, but without letting the victims know the substance of the Crown’s reparations.
All very well to say that the issues are “complex” and that care needs to be taken to get the details right. The Crown has had ample time to do the pay-out numbers in all their possible variations. More to the point, this government has been very happy to smash its way through any number of complex issues this year, without much regard for the socio-economic consequences.
It is only now, when the government has to pick up the tab that suddenly, there’s a need for caution, and for a carefully considered and delayed response. Reportedly, the extent and final details of the funding allocation may not be revealed until next year’s Budget, and the process will then have to worked through with the survivors, according to their particular circumstances.
In Canada, in Australia, governments fronted up on these issues of historical abuse and offered the survivors much more than just a verbal apology and a prime ministerial photo op. (Canada offered
($23 billion Canadian dollars.) The New Zealand investigation has taken six years to complete. Surely, that’s time enough – you would think – for the Crown to have resolved questions of compensation, especially since the inadequacy of the prior compensation scheme has been widely acknowledged for several years.
At this rate, more victims will continue to die while the Crown and agencies responsible are paying lip service to the suffering that happened on their watch.
Footnote: BTW, there seems a total disconnect between the government’s apology today, and its tough law and order policy.
In reality however, some of those abused and damaged while children in care went down a pathway of mental health problems, drug use and (in some cases) crime.
Regardless…ACT, National and New Zealand First seem to barely recognise the existence of social and economic privilege, let alone the fact that some criminal offenders grew up facing barely imaginable obstacles of economic poverty, neglect and abuse. Compassion – genuine compassion – is simply not a part of this government’s authoritarian mindset.
If it was, it would be allocating significantly more funds for prisoner rehabilitation and for drug withdrawal programmes, and putting less pressure on judges to impose longer prison sentences.
Walking the talk
The hikoi against the Treaty Principles Bill has set out from the far North, and is likely to reach Auckland today. At the same time, ACT Party leader David Seymour has expressed a willingness to debate the legislation with his opponents – provided they stick to making “specific objections” about its content. Because a libertarian like Seymour should get to stipulate what qualifies as a legitimate expression of dissent, right?
The Treaty Principles Bill is not a rogue entry in this government’s agenda. It merely happens to be the most egregious example of a bundle of neo- colonial actions over the past 12 months. One Māori news outlet has cited:
- Demolishing Te Aka Whai Ora.
- Throwing out Smokefree Targets- sentencing more Māori to premature death.
- Sidestepping Te Tiriti with the fast-track bill.
- Repealing section 7aa of the Oranga Tamariki Act – stealing our mokopuna.
- Confiscating our coastlines with their Marine and Coastal Area amendments.
- Extracting oil and gas from our Moana.
- Cutting $300 million of targeted Māori funding.
- Cutting Matariki funding.
- Rejecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
- Defunding section 27 reports.
- Restoring Three Strikes.
- Building Mega prisons.
- Resurrecting youth bootcamps.
- Removing Te Mana o Te Wai obligations.
- Ignoring the Waitangi Tribunal Recommendations and High Court Rulings.
This isn’t a comprehensive list. But you get the picture. Seymour has been happy to lead a sustained rollback of the last 40 years of Māori empowerment, while also scrapping Labour’s belated attempts to address the policy failures of the past. Once again, Christopher Luxon has been happy to serve as the press agent for ACT policy. With a nod and a wink to ACT, Luxon is about to provide the Treaty Principles Bill (something he pretends to oppose) with select committee scrutiny that’s guaranteed to get wall-to-wall media exposure.
Throughout, Seymour will once more be claiming to be the humble steward of a reasoned public discussion, provided that all the participants agree beforehand to accept a far more narrow interpretation (a) of Māori grievances and (b) of Crown obligations to Māori.
This is a bit like telling your neighbour to be reasonable after you’ve reported their kids to the Police, lit a garbage fire on the fence line, called in noise control whenever they’ve had a party and unilaterally re-drawn the boundary lines on your respective properties. Can Seymour point to a single thing he’s done this year that has involved him being a good neighbour to the Treaty partner?
Give Me A Break…!
Exactly. Apology accepted conditional on compensation. Take it away, Bo Diddley:
And when it comes to saying “Sorry” this one-hit wonder by the Impalas seems appropriate for today’s big occasion, if only because the guys making the apology are such terrible dancers: