Ngā Mōrehu

Children at the Florence Booth home, one of many set up in New Zealand to house children in state care (Photo: Supplied)

Abuse in care hearings: Survivors determined to protect future generations

After two weeks of deeply personal tales at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care hearing, common threads began to emerge.

By Katie Scotcher | 10th November, 2019

Survivors testified to the inquiry about the ongoing impact of suffering they endured in care as children Image: Getty

Uplifting children is not a Māori problem. It’s a colonisation problem

Last week the Ministry for Children's practises around uplifting children and putting them in state care were exposed. It's no coincidence Māori are disproportionately targetted, writes Tina Ngata.

By Tina Ngata | 19th June, 2019

Chair of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care, Sir Anand Satyanand. Image: Marty Melville/Getty

The Royal Commission into state care abuse: how to make a public submission

From today, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care is welcoming submissions from the public on the draft Terms of Reference.

By Leonie Hayden | 3rd April, 2018

Contributing writer

What remains of Kohitere Boy’s Training Centre in Levin, one of the institutions at the centre of abuse claims. Image: Aaron Smale

New Zealand’s problem with Māori boys

The success or failure of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into state welfare abuse will depend on how much attention it gives to Māori boys – and a change in New Zealand’s attitude, writes Aaron Smale.

By Aaron Smale | 27th March, 2018

Contributing writer

Image: After The Apology

Sorry means you don’t do it again

Ōtaki's Māoriland Film Festival, which kicks off this week, features a documentary about Australia’s apology for the Stolen Generations – and what’s happened since. Aaron Smale spoke to director Larissa Behrendt.

By Aaron Smale | 19th March, 2018

Contributing writer

A perpetrator can’t be a saviour: the state abuse historic claims system must go

A perpetrator can’t be a saviour: the state abuse historic claims system must go

The announcement of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the abuse of children in state care has been met with praise and relief, but survivors may be worse off if the historic claims unit within the MSD is allowed to remain.

By Aaron Smale | 22nd February, 2018

Contributing writer

Paora Moyle supporting Ngā Mōrehu wāhine on filming day with The Hui.

Ngā Wāhine Mōrehu: putting women back in the state abuse conversation

A former ward of the state asks that any inquiry into state care abuse remembers that women were victims too.

By Paora Crawford Moyle | 25th November, 2017

Revictimisation is a real risk in a state care abuse inquiry. Here is how to avoid it

Revictimisation is a real risk in a state care abuse inquiry. Here is how to avoid it

Around the world, there are many abuse victims who have been saddened, angered or re-victimised from inquiry processes. These are the lessons for New Zealand, writes criminologist Elizabeth Stanley.

By Elizabeth Stanley | 18th November, 2017

Our stolen generation: a slow genocide

Our stolen generation: a slow genocide

By Aaron Smale | 17th November, 2017

Contributing writer

Indigenous Australian Joan Baker, daughter of Ruby Williams who was taken from her family at three years of age, poses in celebration after watching the live televsion broadcast from Australian Parliament in Canberra as Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered an apology to the Aboriginal people for injustices committed over two centuries of white settlement on February 13, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. Rudd’s apology referred to the “past mistreatment” of all Aborigines, singling out the “Stolen Generations”, the tens of thousands of Aboriginal children taken from their families by governments between 1910 and the early 1970s, in a bid to assimilate them into white society. (Photo by Kristian Dowling/Getty Images)

Our stolen generation: a nonchalant wickedness

By Aaron Smale | 16th November, 2017

Contributing writer

Our stolen generation: a shameful legacy

Our stolen generation: a shameful legacy

With NZ committed to setting up an inquiry into state abuse within 100 days, Aaron Smale looks at stories from New Zealand, Canada and Australia, and ask what we can learn.

By Aaron Smale | 14th November, 2017

Contributing writer