Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse of Pacific People in State care - Closing Ceremony

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care has been holding its first ever Pacific Investigation hearing into abuse in care of Pacific people in this country.  The enquiry has looked at abuse of Pacific people in both state and faith-based institutions between 1950 and 1999.

The name of the enquiry is Tulou - Our Pacific Voices: Tatala e Pulonga', held at the Fale o Samoa in Māngere and had been open to the public from Monday 19th through to the 30th July 2021. The scope of the hearing can be read here  

On Friday afternoon, after two weeks of witness testimony, evidence summaries and talanoa panels, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in care of Pasifika came to a close with closing statements and a closing ceremony (Watch highlights above) 

Mangere College young people were there to sing and perform elements of the closing ceremony and the MC explained it was symbolic for them to be there as they represented both the youth that was stolen from the abuse survivors lives, but also a reminder to the people in the room that by the time the survivors reached high school age they'd already been through years of the system & state care abuse.

The Niuean community came out to support Niuean survivor Hakeagapuletama Halo who went through Owairaka Boys Home and received multiple electric shock treatments at Lake Alice.  He shared the drawings he had done for his Mum with messages in Niuean so she would understand what was happening to him and also encouraged the students at Mangere College to choose the right company and learn.

They also presented the Pacific Investigation team with lei to thank them for their help and the work they've been doing with Hake and others.

Closing statements from the Pacific Investigation team answered a question that many people would have been asking after hearing - where to from here?

The work doesn't stop for the team as they'll continue to gather more information and witness statements from other abuse survivors, gather more stories and weave them together with their recommendations to be submitted to the government.

Lawyer Reina Va'ai said it'll be at least another two years process.  The Pacific Investigation team are made up of a group of mostly young Pacific lawyers who have been helping the survivors of abuse with their witness statements, submissions, applications for compensation and more.

"We are guided by our survivors. Their voices are at the centre of everything that we do. We also acknowledge that there are many other Pacific survivors out there that have not been able to come forward because of barriers such as shame and stigma. We hope that our hearing has encouraged survivors to come forward and also members of our community to support survivors too.

It’s important to note that the hearing is just the beginning. We will continue to work with survivors and the community to prepare for our final report. Our Pacific investigation team are committed to listening to our survivors so that we can work towards change that is not transactional but transformational. Our community and survivors showed up for us at our hearing and we will continue to show up for them" - Reina Va'ai