Protesters sit outside Parliament during yesterday's government apology to survivors of abuse. Photo: VNP/ Louis Collins
The day after the government apologised to survivors of abuse, survivors have presented a petition to Parliament calling on it to implement all the recommendations from the Royal Commission's report.
While the government has 'broadly' accepted the Royal Commission's findings, it was still working through the 138 recommendations, in addition to the 95 from the 2021 interim redress report.
The government will provide its full response to the recommendations early next year.
In his apology to survivors on Wednesday, the prime minister said the government had completed or started work on 28 recommendations.
Petitioner Ihorangi Reweti Peters said it was unclear what those recommendations were, and believed the government was choosing the easiest to implement first rather than the most meaningful.
"I want to see the 28 recommendations that the government is working on or has implemented to date," he said.
The petition was accepted by Green MP Kahurangi Carter.
"I would like to see that hope and that commitment that the government made yesterday transpire into action and accountability, which means honouring all 138 recommendations," she said.
However, in order for the petition to be accepted, Peters had to remove the word "all" from its title, so it read "implement recommendations" instead.
Peters was disappointed.
"It technically means the government could implement one more recommendation, and that's all," he said.
The Office of the Clerk receives petitions and advises petitioners on bringing them in line with Parliament's Standing Orders so they can be accepted.
Clerk of the House of Representatives David Wilson said petitions must ask Parliament to do something it is able to do.
"Not all the recommendations from the Abuse in Care inquiry fit this criterion. For example, Recommendation 3 is that faith leaders, including the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury, should make public apologies," he said.
Wilson said the office asked Peters to remove the word "all" from the petition's title. Peters did so, and it was accepted.
When it was presented to the House on Wednesday afternoon, it was presented so that it called on the House to implement "all recommendations made to the government in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care reports".
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