New Zealand inquiry finds 200,000 children and vulnerable adults abused in care

24/7/2024 14:01

        New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon apologised and promised reforms on Wednesday after a public inquiry found some 200,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults were abused in state and religious care over the last 70 years.
        
        Nearly one in three children and vulnerable adults in care from 1950 to 2019 experienced some form of abuse, the report found, a finding that could leave the government facing billions of dollars in fresh compensation claims.
        
        "This is a dark and sorrowful day in New Zealand's history as a society and as a state, we should have done better, and I am determined that we will do so," Luxon told a news conference.
        
        An official apology will follow on Nov. 12, he added.
        
        Survivors and their supporters filled the public gallery of the country's parliament as the report was debated, while still more watched from a separate room.
        After Luxon spoke, likening the abuse against children to torture at one state care facilities, Lake Alice, many stood and sang an Indigenous Maori song about love and unity.