From left: Dennis Gates, Pearl Valor and Virginia Courage at the Decult conference in Christchurch. Photo: RNZ / Jean Edwards
Gloriavale leavers and their advocates have condemned what they say is 30 years of inaction by bureaucrats and politicians, warning the Christian community's 400 children remain at risk of harm.
Speaking at the Decult conference in Christchurch on Sunday, lawyer Dennis Gates also called for children to be removed from Gloriavale so they could enjoy the freedoms, rights and privileges of all New Zealanders.
Joined on stage by former members Virginia Courage and Pearl Valor, and Gloriavale Leavers Support Trust general manager Liz Gregory, Gates told the conference the community's seemingly idyllic West Coast grounds housed a slave labour camp.
"The only thing I can compare it to is the old battery hen-style accommodation that you had for chooks laying eggs, only adapted to human requirements," he said.
Gloriavale leavers condemn government inaction
"One of the things you won't find at Gloriavale is a free-ranging Christian. They're all basically locked up."
Gates said Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian - formally known as Neville Cooper - was a liar, cheat, bully and sexual deviant.
He was initially sentenced to six years in prison for indecent assault in 1994, but following an appeal and retrial was sentenced to five years in prison in 1995. Christian spent 11 months in jail before being released on parole.
In an August 1994 pre-sentence report, a probation officer commented, "I cannot help but wonder about the future of the children in particular, should he return to live there in the future", Gates said.
He said the remark proved bureaucrats knew about the risk to children 30 years ago, when Courage and Valor were children.
"They've had to live through 30 years of bureaucratic inaction. In 1994 you've got a bureaucrat saying those children are at risk, and they're still at risk," Gates said.
He said Gloriavale children should be removed and their parents could go too.
"There are 400 children, approximately, under the age of 18 in Gloriavale. They should be taken out. I don't care what the process is, so long as it's legal, but they should be removed, they should be taken out and given what everyone else in New Zealand has - all the freedoms, rights and privileges of a New Zealand citizen," he said.
"Sitting and watching like you're watching a TV reality show isn't an option. This is not a reality show, this is reality for these people."
Attendees of the Decult conference in Christchurch. Photo: RNZ / Jean Edwards
Gregory said families should remain together where possible, but moved offsite to live as autonomous units.
"Yes it's going to be hard when Gloriavale implodes and falls in on itself and there are people to rehome. It's only 50 families - 270 people have left in the last decade, family after family with 13 children. Somehow we managed to resettle them," she said.
Courage said Gloriavale members were victims of huge bureaucratic and political failures.
On the day Hopeful Christian was arrested, she recalled trying to shut down questioning of her mother by police, at the age of 13.
Courage - who has previously waived her right to name suppression - said one decent police interview could have exposed the abuse inflicted during her childhood.
"They didn't do their job, they didn't investigate, they didn't follow up, they didn't care," she said.
"I was 13. I had to be 41 before I talked to a cop and said what it happened. I thought it was my fault, right until I was 41. I didn't know I was a kid, I thought I was a consenting adult, so that's why I didn't talk.
"Powerful people have allowed this to happen and they need to be held accountable. Gloriavale still exists, it's still functioning, it's still harming people every day."
The previous Labour government established a now-disbanded joint agency response to Gloriavale, comprised of local, working and governance groups.
Gates said one of the working group's roles was to assess, review, monitor and mitigate risks to the governance group, therefore protecting top bureaucrats.
"They're supposed to be protecting the people in Gloriavale, not their own arses," he said.
Gates said he pointed out failings in briefings to incoming ministers to Social Development Minister Louise Upston in May, but had not seen "any evidence of her doing anything, absolutely nothing".
In July, the government was urged to immediately do everything it could to ensure the safety of everyone at Gloriavale, following the Royal Commission finding that leaders allowed physical and sexual abuse at the West Coast Christian community.
Barrister Brian Henry has brought High Court action against the attorney-general, who is being sued on behalf of five government agencies accused of knowingly allowing abuse to happen at Gloriavale.
A multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit has also been filed against Gloriavale and five government agencies by former members who claim they were held as slaves from birth by the Christian community's leaders.
Police have been investigating allegations of forced labour, slavery and servitude at Gloriavale.
In two separate cases, the Employment Court's chief judge ruled nine former members were Gloriavale employees, rather than volunteers, working on the community's domestic teams, or factories and farms.
A government spokesperson said allegations of harm at Gloriavale were a matter for the police and Oranga Tamariki.
A police spokesperson said inquiries into offending at Gloriavale began eight years ago with a number of people coming forward to discuss their experiences.
"Since then, enquiries have continued into a range of primarily sexual and physical offending. Police staff are monitoring the workforce elements currently before the Employment Court.
"Police maintains open lines of communication with the Gloriavale community and is working alongside partner agencies to support victims."
RNZ also contacted Upston and Children's Minister Karen Chour for comment.
A Gloriavale spokesperson declined to comment. Community leaders previously said they did not condone abuse and had systematically sought to root out offending with the help of Oranga Tamariki and police.
Oranga Tamariki Nelson site manager Sonia Fairie said the agency continued to work "collaboratively across government to support the safety and well-being of children and young people who are part of the Gloriavale Christian community".
"This includes responding, along with police, to concerns regarding harm to children or young people in the community," she said.