Archbishop John Dew, the Archbishop of Wellington New Zealand, and President of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference says he supports the Royal Commission into institutionalised child abuse by priests announced in Australia.
Archbishop Dew said the NZCBC would support any similar investigation in New Zealand.
But the Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key says he does not see the need for an inquiry into child sex abuse, similar to the one announced in Australia
Key says a lot of work has already been done in New Zealand to prepare a white paper for vulnerable children.
He says the level of child abuse is too high, but programmes are being put in place to address that.
New Zealand’s Police Minister, Anne Tolley, says a sex offender register she is proposing would help keep track of offenders.
And Social Development Minister, Paula Bennett, says enough is already being done.
“I think the fact that we have been addressing historical abuse cases in this country, we have been doing it faster than it’s ever been done, we’ve been fronting up to some of the liability around that and settling a number of cases,” Ms Bennett said.
That includes the confidential listening and assistance service, through which people can raise allegations of abuse or neglect, or who have concerns relating to their time in state care before 1992.
“I think we’ve got other things in place that are addressing what, without a doubt, is cases of historical abuse.”
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