Latest news with #LakeAlice
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Former Justice Minister Judith Collins refuses to apologise to Lake Alice survivor
Lake Alice survivor Karilyn Wildbore and family. Photo: RNZ/Jimmy Ellingham A senior government minister has refused to apologise to a Lake Alice abuse survivor for telling the United Nations more than 10 years ago that there was no state torture in New Zealand. Then-Justice Minister Judith Collins made the comments in 2014, a decade before the government first used the word 'torture' in relation to the Lake Alice child and adolescent unit in the 1970s. She said she was acting on UN reports from the time. The government now says that children and young people who suffered electric shocks or painful paralysing injections at the Rangitīkei institution are eligible for redress, because they were tortured. Included in that is the offer of $150,000 rapid redress payments , which Levin woman Karilyn Wildbore has decided to take up. In March, she also asked for her compensation to include an apology from Collins, now Attorney-General and Minister of Defence, for her 2014 comments. When questioned about New Zealand's obligations under UN conventions, particularly from the Iranian delegate, Collins said: "In response to Iran, I can advise that there is no state torture in New Zealand." In a letter to Wildbore this week, Collins said she would not apologise for the comments. "My response to Iran's remarks reflected the findings of the United Nations subcommittee on the prevention of torture, which had visited New Zealand in April 2013. "In its report, provided to New Zealand in November 2013, the subcommittee found 'no evidence of torture or physical ill-treatment' in places of detention in New Zealand." Collins said she acknowledged the experiences of Wildbore and others at the Lake Alice unit. "However, I don't believe that what I told the UPR [universal periodic review] in 2014, in response to a remark from Iran, was wrong. "As such, I am unable to provide the apology Ms Wildbore has requested." Wildbore said she was not surprised. "Denial's the name of the game at the moment," she said. "No matter what you do, people don't want to be responsible." Wildbore said Collins should have known about what had happened at Lake Alice, especially since the first compensation payments were made more than a decade before 2014. Only last year, the government began using the word 'torture' to describe the unit's treatment of children and young people, under lead psychiatrist Dr Selwyn Leeks. The $150,000 rapid payments are part of a $22.68 million package for Lake Alice Survivors announced late last year. Survivors who received electric shocks or paralysing injections could either opt for these payments or head to arbitration. Collins' office was contacted for comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
King's Birthday Honours: Advocate dedicates award to survivors of abuse in care
Victor Boyd was credited with drawing attention to the abuse and torture inflicted on approximately 360 children and vulnerable adults at Lake Alice. Photo: PUBLIC DOMAIN./ Pawful A tireless advocate for survivors of abuse in care has dedicated his King's Birthday Honour to those who suffered. Victor Boyd has spent more than 50 years seeking recognition for the abuse that occurred at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit between 1972 and 1978. He has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. "It was a real surprise and obviously I feel very honoured to get that sort of on behalf of the survivors really who told me their stories all those years ago and continue to do so. "I felt also it was a nice reward for the voluntary work I had done over the years on this cause." He said all those involved in exposing the abuse shared in the award. "Working with the Citizens Commission on Human Rights and the survivors who told me their stories and also the ones who wanted something done, wanted something something to happen about their experiences, that's who I would dedicate this award to." Now in his mid-70s, Boyd had been volunteer researcher for the Citizens Commission on Human Rights since 1977, and was credited with drawing attention to the abuse and torture inflicted on approximately 360 children and vulnerable adults at Lake Alice. Boyd interviewed numerous survivors of abuse at the Lake Alice Unit, documenting their experiences and supporting them in raising complaints with relevant government agencies. He supported former patient Paul Zentveld's complaint to the United Nations (UN) Convention Against Torture , which led to New Zealand's Royal Commission into Abuse in Care Inquiry . His tireless advocacy across several decades culminated in a formal acknowledgement by the government of the abuse and torture of children and young adults at the Lake Alice. When the Commission's initial 500-page report was released in 2020, Boyd told Open Justice activities at Lake Alice looked like medical experimentation on children. "I think that that is appalling, that's another reason we kept going. I kept working on it, but because I didn't have lists or anything like that it was still running around cold calling people." He was impressed with the level of detail in the 2020 report. "It was very gratifying to see after all of this time." His contribution to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions helped inform the Lake Alice Unit section of the report. Boyd was actively involved in the inquiry, particularly through engagement with diverse survivor groups, Ministers, Members of Parliament, government officials and independent agencies. Speaking after receiving his honour he said there was still work to do. "The accountability side of it still needs to be finalised because there's the redress which is in place and there have been apologies from the government, the prime minister, the Medical Council and shortly the Nursing Council. "What's missing at the moment is what the mental health staff did actually which was wrong and that has to be acknowledged. In part that has occurred with the Medical Council apology so there's been steps in the right direction there."
RNZ News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
The price of a ruined life
Malcom Richards is funding his court action against the government's redress offer. Photo: Jimmy Ellingham A warning, this story references abuse. How much should you expect in compensation for a ruined childhood? Can you even put a figure on years of abuse that in some cases included torture - electric shocks and paralysing injections? A month after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon delivered an official apology to victims of abuse in state and faith-based case last November, government minister Erica Stanford announced there would be compensation for 118 eligible Lake Alice torture victims in a $22.68 million scheme. That works out to $150,000 per person, and the victims had until last week to decide if it was fair. More than 70 survivors took it, with another 44 taking another option of negotiating an individual settlement. Malcolm Richards was not one of them. He's taking court action instead, filing a judicial review against the government offer, arguing it breaches New Zealand's obligations under the UN torture convention. After filing the review on Monday he told reporters on the steps of the High Court at Wellington that the money "doesn't just make up for the loss of income. It doesn't cover the rehabilitation we require". Speaking to The Detail later in the day from his Wellington hotel room, Richards said all victims of torture, not just those from Lake Alice, should be offered adequate compensation. "They haven't followed the UN's protocols on torture redress," says Richards. "It's not just monetary, there's very little if any rehabilitation offered at all." An announcement on further government redress for those tortured in other state institutions is expected soon. Richards says the electric shocks he was administered caused cognitive difficulties that left him unable to work. "Memory loss has followed me from job to job and I forget what bosses have told me and get yelled at and abused... It's a real struggle to hold down jobs," he says. He couldn't "pluck a figure out of the air" for what was appropriate for him, and says he wants the court to decide. Richards is funding his own court action, raising money on Givealittle and cashing in his KiwiSaver. He now waits for a court date, while also undergoing cancer treatment. Some people who did take the rapid payment are moving on with their lives. RNZ's Jimmy Ellingham meets Robyn Dandy at Lake Alice on a windy, cold Sunday, more than 25 years after the facility closed. There is little sign of what used to be there. Robyn Dandy at the site of the former Lake Alice institution. Photo: Jimmy Ellingham She tells him she has no regrets over opting to take the $150,000 payment. "What the government has given us in the way of compensation, as we all know, won't ever make up for what we went through, but for me it's opened new doors to move forward, and just [have] financial stability for the rest of my life. "I did buy a little gypsy wagon and I've put a little memorial to my grandson on the front of it." Her grandson, Kahn Petch, died in a house fire after Dandy had made a promise one day the pair would travel around together. Now, she has the means to do that. She also decided to fund a memorial at the Lake Alice site, although the Rangitīkei District Council had since agreed to pay for it and its upkeep. No one was charged over what happened at Lake Alice. Dandy says it's disgraceful that the unit's lead psychiatrist Dr Selwyn Leeks was never held to account, but she now feels sorry for him and his staff - even though they tortured children. The Detail also talks to human rights lawyer Lydia Oosterhoff, a senior associate at Wellington firm Cooper Legal, who says she's glad some Lake Alice survivors had received compensation. Lydia Oosterhoff is a human rights lawyer and senior associate at Cooper Legal. Photo: Jimmy Ellingham But she questions why those tortured at other institutions haven't yet had similar treatment. The Royal Commission on Historical Abuse in State Care suggests upwards of 200,000 people were victims of that era, most of them in social welfare care. Oosterhoff says making them wait for redress is another form of psychological abuse. Erica Stanford says the Lake Alice redress scheme was specific to torture and had been the priority. She understood that after six years of Royal Commission inquiries and the tabling of its final report last year, survivors wanted clarity about the government's response. "As we said at the apology, this is complex work that would be a priority for this year. I will be making announcements about redress shortly." Where to get help Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason. Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357 Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO (24/7). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends. Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 (24/7) or text 4202 Samaritans: 0800 726 666 (24/7) Youthline: 0800 376 633 (24/7) or free text 234 (8am-12am), or email talk@ What's Up: free counselling for 5 to 19 years old, online chat 11am-10.30pm 7days/week or free phone 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787 11am-11pm Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm or text 832 Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and English. 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