Gloriavale feeling ‘harassed’

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Gloriavale feeling ‘harassed’

Gloriavale feeling ‘harassed’
Articles

| Greymouth Star | Laura Mills |

Gloriavale says it is being harassed and does not know who to turn to.

In a statement yesterday to the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care, leaders said the continual call for investigations into their communal life had been traumatic for many of their children, some of whom have been interviewed by Oranga Tamariki up to four times.

“Each time they are asked the same questions. When the children respond that they’ve answered that in a previous interview, they are pressured again to answer.

“At one stage we had a lot of bedwetting among the children, and obvious signs of stress and insecurity.

“They speak openly among themselves of their home, Gloriavale, being put down in the media again. As innocent children, what have they done to deserve this?”

Gloriavale said it was unsure who to address its concerns to, and felt powerless to protect its people from the abuses of the media. When a television crew was recently trespassed from the Gloriavale property at Lake Haupiri they rang the police, but there was little they could do, being an hour’s drive from Greymouth. They had not made a complaint to the Broadcasting Commission because they expected it would be a fruitless exercise. In the past, the media had given a prestigious award to a reporter who infi ltrated Gloriavale in incognito, “in clear breach of traditional ethics”.

“If we go to the Broadcasting Commission and have our case turned down, it simply sends a message to media outlets that they can exploit us and endanger our children with impunity.” The High Court also commented on the media in its recent decision ordering Westland Dairy Company to continue collecting milk from Gloriavale dairy farms. The judge said: “I have reviewed the e-mails from various suppliers to Westland which have the heading and reference ‘modern slavery ethics’. It is clear on analysis that the terminology and concerns can be sourced back to the same journalist and are in response to her inquiries rather than any other independent source.”