Abuse in care report: 'Cynicism' and 'a great deal of hope' for action after inquiry

Survivors will be hoping the final report into abuse in care will not be left to collect dust on shelves, a lawyer for some of the survivors says.

Cooper Legal principal partner Sonja Cooper acted on behalf of some survivors during the six-year inquiry, which had its final report released publicly on Wednesday afternoon.

Cooper told Checkpoint it was a "massive step forward" to hear that parties from across the political spectrum wanted to work together to implement the recommendations, but she would have to see it to believe it.

It was an emotional day for survivors who had been moved by what they were hearing in Parliament, Cooper said.

"I imagine there's a degree of cynicism because so far nothing much has changed. But there will also be a great deal of hope and I think that's what all of us have - is that this report doesn't just fall onto dusty shelves and nothing happens."

Survivors felt vindicated to be able to finally share their stories and have their voices heard, she said, adding she was "absolutely committed" to seeing this through to a good outcome for survivors.

One of the key messages from the report was that care of children and vulnerable adults needed to be returned to the community, which Cooper said would require a lot of work and empowerment.

The report had demonstrated "very well" the state could not be trusted to care for them, Cooper said.

There was also a need for "proper redress" and she had heard in Parliament on Wednesday that was a priority.

Cooper labelled compensation as "an investment".

"At the end of the day, when you look at the harm that's caused to survivors of abuse, if you look at it from an individual basis, it costs out about 8 or 900,000 per person.

"So there's a lot that needs to be done. There's the financial compensation but there's also the services that need to go with that so housing, education, reconnection with families, help with mental health issues, help with alcohol and drug addiction issues."

A national apology was needed, and while the prime minister had committed to an apology, it needed to be wider than that, including officials, various ministries, police and faith-based organisations, she said.

"I think New Zealanders have been allowed to, to a large degree, bury their heads in the sand and pretend this has not been a part of our history and is not a part of our current history, because believe me, it is still a part of our history.

"We will never be able to protect vulnerable children and vulnerable adults unless we take a really good look at ourselves ... it really does a confrontation of ourselves."

For survivors, Cooper said they should have hope, not give up, and continue to advocate for their rights.

"Know there are people out there supporting you and hopefully a whole national will be behind you and support you, too."

Abuse survivor moved by speeches in Parliament - but policies differ from words

Abuse survivor and advocate Ken Clearwater paid his own way to get from Christchurch to Wellington on Wednesday to be in Parliament for the speeches.

Clearwater told Checkpoint Chlöe Swarbrick's speech in particular had really hit home, and it was "huge" to be sitting in there with so many other survivors who had fought so hard to be heard.

Having Labour leader Chris Hipkins acknowledge the work former prime minister Jacinda Ardern did to get things started was nice to hear, he said.

However, he was concerned about the government's policies not fitting with some of their own words, including their decisions with 7AA, gangs and the boot camps starting soon.

Clearwater worried boot camps would just turn out like the institutions where people were abused, but he agreed young people needed to be held accountable for their actions, but the reasons behind their crime needed to be considered and taken into account

He had started working with survivors 30 years ago and said they should not have to wait much longer for redress.

He said it was fair that ageing Lake Alice survivors were being prioritised - as what they went through was "absolutely horrendous" and the worst kind of torture.

It needed to be a "genuine package" which also helped out with survivors' health needs, accommodation, education and jobs.

Clearwater said he also wanted to know if there were still some people alive that were the abusers - and if so, if they would be held responsible for their crimes.