This courageous report Whanaketia – Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light | Abuse in Care – Royal Commission of Inquiry was a sobering summary of how victims of our society were abused by State and Church institutions over decades. It created quite a stir when it was released, and its policy ramifications are enormous.
In my opinion it requires us to completely rethink how social services are delivered in our society and who delivers them.
In my opinion the very best summary of the abuse inflicted on those in care, and their whanau, was written by Aaron Smale. He wrote them for Newsroom, and I applaud him and Newsroom for giving him a platform to write the truth about what happened to our most vulnerable citizens at a critical time in their lives. Here’s the link to the summary document which also links to each of the 5 articles in the series Crown cover-up? When the state turned on its victims – Newsroom. Do put time aside to read them, if you have not done so already.
It was a bad call by Speaker Gerry Brownlee to ban Aaron from attending the official apology in Parliament. Fortunately, that call was reversed but Aaron was only allowed to attend the apology if he was accompanied by a supervisor. This was a great demonstration of how the state does not like powerful journalists who write things honestly.
It was sobering to witness the five Heads of Government departments all standing in a row apologising for the behaviour of their institutions over the decades. This is such a rare occurrence, and I don’t believe for a moment that they have great intentions to change much other than maybe not getting caught next time.
The minister in charge of handling the commission’s recommendations, Erica Stanford, seems very sensible and fair. However, she has an uphill battle in front of her as I suspect her cabinet colleagues will prevail with their commitment to minimising the spending money they deem as unnecessary. This means that these victims will remain underpaid and un-listened to again.
When I ran my business we ran a FUFU policy. The second part being FESS UP. We all make mistakes and get things wrong, but it’s the cover up that rots an organisation from the inside.
Why our government and local bodies are so averse to saying sorry we got that wrong is beyond me. The financial cost of a cover up is often more than the original sin. (see the UK Post Office ) Moraly, it is a crime against those affected. The build up of secrets and lies within an organisation is the opposite of openness and integrity that we would like to expect from our representatives and public servants.
I also used to work for Social Wefare many years ago and witnessed the cover ups and fear of having a mistake recorded against you that could impede your climb up the greasy pole. Care of children came second.
I guess as always, it’s a choice between doing the right thing and your career. I’d like to think that they aren’t mutualy exclusive.