New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made a “formal and unreserved” apology in Parliament on Tuesday for the widespread abuse, torture and neglect of hundreds of thousands of children and vulnerable adults in care.
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00:00Today I stand before you as the representative of not only this government but of all the
00:05governments that have gone before us to offer a formal and unreserved apology for the abuse
00:11that you suffered while in state care, churches and other faith-based places.
00:17It was horrific, it was heartbreaking, it was wrong and it should never have happened.
00:29For many of you it changed the course of your life and for that the government must
00:34take responsibility.
00:36I am sorry that you were not believed when you came forward to report your abuse.
00:43I am sorry that many bystanders, staff, volunteers and carers turned a blind eye and failed to
00:50stop or report abuse.
00:53Today is a hugely important day for all of you to finally hear what the Crown has failed
00:59to give you for all of these years, an apology.
01:04It's a hugely important day for us, the representatives of the Crown and of successive governments,
01:10that we finally, finally acknowledge the thousands of confronting experiences of neglect, abuse,
01:21trauma, torture and that we finally own up fully to our failings and offer our sincerest apologies.
01:32We are sorry.