Friday, 2 July 2021, 4:28 pm
On Monday, as I drove from Kerikeri to Kamo, on Radio New
Zealand Kathryn Ryan was interviewing
students from Christchurch Girls High School, who were
commenting on vague but serious claims of sexual abuse, with
the finger being pointed mainly at Christchurch Boys High
School pupils.
It was a discomforting listen, and my
passing thoughts included three movies: The Crucible (set in
the 1690s), Heavenly Creatures (set in the 1950s), and
Clockwork Orange (set in the 1960s). My thoughts also
drifted to the Christchurch Civic Creche case (early 1990s),
where a number of women and one man were charged with
The Supreme Court has denied a request to use new evidence during the appeal of Peter Ellis 16 June 2021
The 61-year-old served seven years in prison for sexual abuse of children at the Christchurch Civic Creche in the 90s - but always maintained his innocence
He died fighting to clear his name - and a posthumous substantive appeal is set down for October.
The Crown applied to have a further abuse allegation against Ellis admitted.
The Supreme Court has ruled the evidence inadmissible and will release its reasons in coming weeks.
Now it looks like that project is being picked up in earnest. Moves are happening at multiple levels. Political commentators have noted how Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Māori and Pasifika MPs to cover the justice-related portfolios in her second-term Cabinet. Kelvin Davis was already the Corrections Minister, and as the new Children’s Minister, he now also takes charge of Oranga Tamariki. Poto Williams is Police Minister, while Kris Faafoi replaces Andrew Little as the Justice Minister. These are symbolic top-level steps, if nothing else. However, decolonisation is a broad project. And flying slightly under the radar has been a call by Māori law academics for a grassroots reform of legal training.
Jess Hill, author of See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control and Domestic Abuse
Photo: Supplied
New Zealand legal history was made in September when the Supreme Court allowed former Christchurch Civic Creche worker Peter Ellis s appeal against charges of sexual offending to continue after his death. Ellis lawyer Natalie Coates talks about the cultural significance of this precedent.
Natalie Coates
Photo: supplied
Dr Kareem Adel Ismail says last year s Christchurch atrocity is a wake-up call that everything is not okay in New Zealand society.
Department of Conservation employee, Dr Kareem Adel Ismail, said mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch last year that left 51 people dead was not surprising.