NEW ZEALAND
Otago Daily Times
March 27, 2018
The Catholic and Anglican Churches have both written to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern asking for religious institutions to be included in the Royal Commission into abuse in state care.
The Prime Minister says the terms of reference for the inquiry are still being consulted on and while what churches have to say could feed into the inquiry, she stood by her belief that the inquiry should look primarily into what happened to children while in the care of the state.
“I understand that churches have taken a position and certainly it is important that feeds into the discussion we’re having on the terms of reference as well,” she said yesterday.
“I still absolutely think the primary reason that this was instigated by a large group of people was for us to take responsibility for the role of the state by inquiring into ourselves,” Ms Ardern said.
“I’ve always had concerns around the impact of broadening the inquiry and diluting the responsibility that we need to take for those who were harmed in state care.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.