‘I make this apology to all survivors on behalf of my own and previous governments,’ the prime minister said.
With today scheduled as the time for the New Zealand government to formally apologise to survivors of abuse in state care, emotions ran high.
As soon as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon rose to speak in Parliament, a person in the public gallery began shouting, leading Speaker Gerry Brownlee to order guards to remove him.
He was later identified as Karl Mokaraka, an abuse survivor who had previously run for election as part of the Destiny Church’s Vision NZ party last year.
“We need Jesus back in this Parliament,” he shouted. “How can we heal without Jesus Christ back in this Parliament?”
It took four security guards to wrest Mokaraka out of his seat and toward the door before he gave up and walked out.
While many of the other 200 survivors present in the gallery made their disapproval plain, there was a strong feeling among many that the apology means little when the government is still prevaricating about redressing the wrong.
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