OPINION
Most New Zealand citizens, if asked, will express their horror at the findings of the Abuse in Care inquiry. Their horror is entirely justified. What happened in the closed institutions of church and state during the second half of the 20th century is horrifying.
The most natural human response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s multiple reports is: ‘How could such awful things have been allowed to happen and go on happening?’ When the inquiry’s estimation of the number of New Zealanders experiencing abuse at the hands of the state between 1950 and 1999 ranges between 170,000 and 250,000, that is not an unreasonable question.
