An Expensive and Noisy Week for Gloriavale

Opinion piece: Liz Gregory.

(Thoughts, opinions and views expressed here belong to Liz Gregory and may or may not represent the views of the Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust, former or current members of Gloriavale.).

Keep reading to find out which Facebook post had 39,000 views within 48 hours of a particular news article being posted…

It’s been an interesting week or two. Last week I spent two days in the Wellington Appeal Court taking notes to share with the plaintiffs and leavers about what was being said. Gloriavale believe the 2023 ruling that the young ladies were employees is incorrect. So they are appealing the decision. In a nutshell they don’t believe that the girls (who worked hard and long hours in domestic service) deserve to be paid for their time and effort. They really, really, really don’t want to pay them… They don’t believe that the girls were hired on any kind of contract (hire and reward contracts are an important part of the employment process). The lawyers said there was no contract. The leavers’ lawyers said they were contracted from birth to provide labour and in return they received the necessities on life (breath, food, accommodation, marriage and a place in heaven).

The three judges will now each have to grapple with a law that wasn’t designed for this exact scenario.

One judge had the measure of it when she said, “So how does slavery fit into this?” She could see that the original judge’s ruling clearly had the features of slavery.

I guess if they are found not to be employees, the only other option is slave? And I’m not sure that’s a headline Gloriavale would prefer.

Surely a slave is an exploited employee? And if employment protections don’t protect the most vulnerable members of society, then what’s the point of having laws

Hand Clamping / Suffocation

Talking about vulnerable members of society, the week prior to this hearing the NZ Herald broke another story which sent the NZ public into a frenzy. It was about the hand clamping (suffocation) technique members of Gloriavale was encouraged to use on their babies to keep them quiet in meetings and to break their self-will. (Read about that here.

The NZ Govt and agencies already knew about the issue – throughout the years leavers and others had spoken to people in power about this issue. When the Govt got sued by leavers for slavery claims in 2024, all of a sudden it sparked the mass investigation – that ended up with two formal warnings being given the Gloriavale members. It’s just that the public didn’t really know about it. ‘

Slavery Proceedings

In addition to the employment proceedings, leavers are taking the Gloriavale and the Government to court around the issue of slavery. There was a two day hearing this week in Wellington related to that issue. I imagine both Gloriavale and the Government will be ducking for cover, and will want to avoid as much responsibility as possible. We’ll have to wait for the judge’s decision before knowing how that trial will proceed.

Government Flapping About

For whatever reason, there seems to be a stirring in the Government over Gloriavale at present. Perhaps it’s the threats that Gloriavale school might close, or that their Charity Services status is under threat, or maybe it’s that the Government has been named as a defendant in the upcoming slavery class action (which will show there has been negligence on behalf of multiple Governments spanning decades). Or perhaps it’s because the Royal Commission Recommendation stating “all practicable steps to ensure the safety of children, young people, and adults at Gloriavale” has been accepted.

Regardless, it was reported in the Press by Michael Morrah last week in this article / video a “new high-powered multi-ministers group” has been set up to “respond to ongoing issues at the West Coast commune.“

Louise Upston has been appointed the head and she said, “That is why we have now approached this recommendation as a group of ministers to ensure that we have a close eye [on Gloriavale] and that agencies are sharing information to ensure that we have a much more joined-up response.”

How close an eye are they keeping on things?

There are some interesting things to note here. One is that the Leavers themselves did not know about this group. Members of Gloriavale we have spoken to did not know about this group. The Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust did not know about this group. So how effective is this group going to be when they aren’t talking to the people who have left and who interface with current and former members?

It’s important for these kinds of groups to have people with cultural insight to assist. We’ve seen groups like this set up before, and they usually fail to deliver the kind of outcomes required, because they are devoid of the information they need.

If you want a decent more well-rounded information flow about what’s happening at the breakfast table, in the meetings, and at the school, then why not talk to people who hear from inside Gloriavale? Leavers and supporters are the ones daily interfacing with family members and friends inside. It’s VERY RARE for Government ministers to actually hear anything directly.

Should Gloriavale Close?

The article said,

“Asked whether she could rule out authorities taking action to close Gloriavale, Upston suggested all options are on the table. “I’m not going to rule anything in or out,” she said.“

And that formed the headline of the article in the Press. Of course, that set off a lot of noise on talkback radio and with bloggers. In fact on our own Facebook page, the article had been seen a massive 39,000 times in 48 hours… We’ve never had that kind of engagement with any post before.

Challenge to Government

One blogger/commentator wrote about Gloriavale on the Daily Blog. It originally was a long blog about his anger at religious groups and cults, and basically suggested since we live in a liberal democracy we find ourselves having to tolerate groups like Gloriavale. Whilst I agreed with much of the content about his distain for culty groups that abuse and exploit, I disagreed with his misunderstanding of religion and cults. I tried to leave a comment, which failed. Regardless since then the blog has been severely curtailed and only appears to be a few short paragraphs now. Here is the response I wrote at the time:

Thanks for sharing an opinion about Gloriavale. I run the Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust, and so I have a few opinions on the matter too! Interestingly, I think you have missed something that too many people miss. This is NOT a religious issue. This is a cultic issue. This is about coercive control and crime. Cults come in all kinds of wrapping paper. There are political cults, business cults, yoga cults, well-being cults and religious cults. All of them exist in New  Zealand. Sadly the worst of them in our country appear to be religious in nature. But the other kinds are growing in popularity. So the discussion needs to move away from religion and into the realms of coercive control.

Like you, I agree they can believe what they like. But they can’t practice what they like. They need to remain within the bounds of the law and acceptable behaviours of society. That means ensuring their children are cared for, not subject to abuse, educated as well as other NZ’ers, keep the law, and provide the necessities of life and freedoms that children (and adults) are entitled to under international treaties. We are to uphold freedom of religion (ironically the people in Gloriavale have had no such freedoms). We don’t tolerate worker exploitation, forced labour, child labour or slavery.

So with that in mind, we DO NOT have to simply “put up with Gloriavale”

For more excellent information on understanding cults and how the operate be sure to listen in to NZ’s award-winning podcast called Cult Chat.

Challenge to Government

Before making decisions about what should happen to Gloriavale, and what kind of help inside would be useful, why not invite those who know stuff to sit around the table and assist? When you miss out on listening to some of the main stakeholders, you miss a lot. Leavers now have voices, and they have knowledge and wisdom. Why not tap into that. The Gloriavale situation is complex and nuanced. But it is solveable.