10 govt agencies, six ministers watching Gloriavale
| Greymouth Star | Laura Mills |
Subscription Only
At least 10 government agencies and six cabinet ministers now have oversight of the under-pressure Gloriavale Christian Community at Lake Haupiri.
The likes of the police, Health NZ and Oranga Tamariki have teams working at the 600-strong community each week.
The extent of Government intervention was revealed in Parliament this week, in written answers.
Police have worked with Gloriavale for nine years and have a dedicated full-time investigation team based on the West Coast.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell said the investigation team currently had three investigators and a senior criminal investigation branch leader. Additional investigators based in Christchurch helped where required. Mr Mitchell revealed a crossagency working group was looking into the women sent from Gloriavale to its outpost in India.
“Police has been working with Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Oranga Tamariki on the activities of the Gloriavale Christian Community in India.
“The current issues identified by the situation in India are part of a crossagency working group to establish further facts.”
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said an active investigation at Gloriavale was being led by the Labour Inspectorate. That investigation commenced in January 2024 after an Employment Court ruling, which identified the Gloriavale Christian Community as the employer.
It would establish who the employees were and ensure they were receiving their minimum entitlements.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said some children were enrolled in Gloriavale Christian School, some were home schooled and others enrolled in Te Kura, the correspondence school.
In November, the Ministry of Education issued Gloriavale Christian School with a notice to comply after the Education Review Office found the school to be non-compliant in six of the eight registration criteria for a private school.
The Ministry is receiving fortnightly reports and visiting monthly to monitor the progress of the plan the school has developed in response to the notice.
Health Minister Shane Reti said the Te N-kau Health Centre at Greymouth held primary care clinics fortnightly at Gloriavale.
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey said programmes were available to Gloiriavale residents through regional mental health and addiction services, to ensure they received appropriate support.
This included referral to specialist mental health services as required.
Children’s Minister Karen Chhour said Oranga Tamariki worked with Gloriavale to help build child protection systems within the community. It had a regular presence in the community, and a social worker visited three days a week.
Homebuilders, a West Coast community agency, provided social work support, parenting programmes and home-based help.
A child protection team met weekly and was made up of a senior social worker from Oranga Tamariki and child protection leads identified within the community.
Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden said the department had an open investigation into Gloriavale as a registered charity.
Most of the information was in response to answers tabled in Parliament by Labour MP Duncan Webb.