Marcroft JennyJENNY MARCROFT (NZ First): Thank you Mr Speaker. I begin my contribution in acknowledgment of the survivors gathered here today at Parliament. I mihi to Eugene Ryder and also to Loretta my brother-in-law's uncle and auntie—tēnā kōrua.The final report of the royal commission of inquiry into abuse in care raises many difficult complex and serious issues that go to the heart of the ways in which our society has attempted to deal with those placed in the care of the State the welfare State. A great many of those children and young people who were already abused and traumatised were placed in institutions like Templeton Lake Alice Tokanui Sunnyside and countless others whose names have acquired an unpleasant aura. That aura has not come about by accident. The inquiry reveals shocking detail. Stories that are incredibly harrowing that have impacted large numbers of people their families and communities. Damaged survivors who were traumatised by their treatment—or should I say mistreatment.I am the daughter of a survivor. My mother was strapped to electrodes and delivered electric shock therapy as a young university student. She was locked up without her consent or the consent of her parents and subjected to inhumane barbaric treatment in the late 1950s. One of thousands of stories just like yours.I'm horrified. I'm shocked and deeply disturbed by all of the stories in the report detailing the scale of abuse the various ways in which abuse was carried out by whom it was carried out and concealed and sustained over generations. That the abuse became normalised and integrated into the culture of so-called care is a gross inversion of the purpose of healing and restoration and is a shameful stain on our nation.The summary of the report has two very clear messages. Bad things happen to people when they are disempowered when they are segregated away from view and when they are silenced. Different kinds of bad things arise in people who are put in charge of vulnerable people. Why they become bullies seem to be baked into the institutional architecture and it's still there. This of course is nothing new. Everyone who's ever done PSYC 101 has heard of the Milgram experiment and the Stanford prison experiments. We can hardly claim an ignorance as an excuse. Every psychologist counsellor and social worker up and down the long white cloud has known that people become corrupted by power when it is not held to account.It is easy to point the finger at those who carried out the instances of abuse and make judgments upon them. The perpetrators will no doubt live with the lie that they are decent people. Their victims however will have to live under the shadow of horrible memories and psychological scars as best they can. Many of them were convinced by the perpetrators that they were not good people and that they somehow deserved the torments that were inflicted upon them. Others knew that they did not deserve this abuse but their voices were silenced. Sadly many of the abusers and victims like my mother are no longer alive. And much damage has been done that cannot now be undone for them.This report brings us back to the question of how we respond appropriately to the needs of people who require some form of care. This is a question common to all societies. As Mahatma Gandhi said The true measure of any society can be seen in how it deals with the most vulnerable".Whilst a lot of energy and resources could and should be brought to provide some relief to those who suffered at the hands of those caring for them it would be even more wrong to not rethink what it means to provide care to people in New Zealand in the third decade of the 21st century. This rethinking will have to re-examine fundamental questions about why caring is important to wider society and the value of individuals. We who make policies that affect those we serve have to be willing to put ourselves in the shoes and the hospital gowns of those we design policies for. Our time in history is both similar and different from the time in which the welfare State arose. Similar in that we are beset by large-scale needs. But we no longer have the same wide-eyed confidence in science and institutions to solve the problems that we had in the latter part of the 20th century.But we must tread very carefully and thoughtfully if we are to avoid repeating the evil of the past. If we deny vulnerable individuals their humanity what would that say about ourselves? The question I ask myself in conclusion and I ask all of you here today: how would we want to be cared for if we ourselves or someone close to us requires the State's support? To be cared for in a humane way with our dignity preserved and where we are treated with compassion.I acknowledge the significance of this historic report and the collective efforts of everyone who has contributed to it. While a Crown apology is to come and some redress made it is my hope that all victims know that their voices have been heard and will contribute to meaningful change.In closing to all the victims living and past I hope you find peace."