Royal Commission apology: ‘Survivors need disabled allies’

As the Government prepares to give an official apology to survivors of abuse in care this week, Gary Williams’ message to disabled people who have not been in care is this: “We need allies.”

“If you can come along with us who have been in care to support us, we can keep going,” he says. “Our lives have been different to your lives, our experiences have been different to your experiences.”

Williams (Ngāti Porou) says one of the first things disabled people can do to support survivors is to encourage the Government to “get on with the job” and implement the recommendations in the Commission’s reports, because “people like me aren't going to live a long time… We haven't got much time left to follow up this issue.”

Alongside other survivors, Williams will be travelling to Parliament for the apology. Although he’s feeling optimistic, “it’s going to be more than nice words that make survivors feel good and there’s going to have to be commitments for tangible change.”

“We can’t wait another five to 10 years for the Government to decide what it can do because people are literally dying waiting.”

Williams’ input to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care has been invaluable, not just as a survivor himself but for his advocacy in the disability system and in Māori spaces.

“I just wanted to be a voice for disabled people at the table because often we have not been heard, and even if we’re heard, our issues seem to be dismissed because other people at the table have different priorities and don't get it, don't understand our issues.”

In giving feedback and critique to the Royal Commission’s report, he saw his contribution as adding to the kōrero, not changing it. But in order to keep conversations moving forward, he said he had to “disassociate from my own story”.

He said many people he worked with at the Commission were traumatised sharing their story because they’d never been believed before.

“I really wanted to focus on the greater good for all people who were in care, not just disabled people, because if I get stuck in my own story, nobody benefits because I know that what happens in the future isn't going to make up for what's happened in the past.”

He said many of the historical issues people faced then, still exist now, such as issues with power and control.

A lot of disabled people don’t understand the power and control they are under because it becomes “normalised”, Williams said.

“Disabled people need to choose their battles,” he says. “Although it seems wrong and a bit of injustice at the time, you just have to suck it up and move on and save your energy for a greater battle. Non-disabled people often don't have to act in compromises.”

Williams says the report’s recommendations need to be taken in as a whole.

“I don’t want the Government to get into cherry picking. Otherwise that undermines the whole ecosystem that the commission tried to create,” he says.

“I don’t want this done for me, but I want it done for other survivors.”

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