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PM's conduct questioned in Lake Alice compensation case
The National Business Review
September 22 2006
PM's conduct questioned in the compensation case
Labour accused of hiding withholding details of controversial Lake Alice settlement from victims
by Deborah Hill Cone
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A Wellington District Court judge has exposed a secret deal in which the government took a cut of millions of dollars from compensation payments to former mental hospital patients.
In a bold judgment out this week, Judge Tom Broadmore has criticised what he describes as the "political" decision made at the highest levels of government to secretly take 30% of the compensation payments from victims of mistreatment at government psychiatric institution, Lake Alice, to cover non-existent "legal fees."
The former patients were never told this was happening and the Crown's justification was Kafkaesque, Judge Broadmore said in a judgment that orders the government to pay out the withheld amount to one victim and opens the way for other claims.
Judge Broadmore has chosen his words carefully as the case touches on the conduct of a group of Wellington's most powerful public figures including Prime Minister Helen Clark, former High Court Judge Sir Rodney Gallen, Labour government appointee David Collins QC, now solicitor-general, and Ministry of Health chief legal adviser Grant Adam.
The background to the case is that in 2001 Christchurch lawyer Grant Cameron won a $6.5 million payout for a group of 95 former Lake Alice victims in a class action against the government.
As a result, the government decided to settle with a further 80 or so former patients on the same terms, appointing Mr Collins to help the patients and former High Court judge Sir Rodney Gallen to determine the level of compensation, as he had done for Mr Cameron's clients.
However, the Ministry of Health decided one-third of the sum determined by Sir Rodney would be deducted before the claimants found out, to keep the payouts in line with what it believed Mr Cameron's clients had received.
Mr Cameron's fee, which has never been publicly disclosed, was said to be about one-third of his client's payout, or about $2 million, in compensation for taking the ground-breaking case on a contingency basis.
Judge Broadmore notes that various recipients in Ms Clark's office were kept informed about the Ministry of Health's internal debate over this issue and Sir Rodney's position that he disagreed with having to make deductions.
"As reported by [Ministry of Health lawyer] Christine Lloyd in an email to Mr Adam, counsel at the Prime Minister's Office and one or two others, Sir Rodney told her that he had not appreciated the nature of the instruction, that making any deduction from the amount was a political decision, and he did not have sufficient information about the basis of Grant Cameron & Associates' charging," Judge Broadmore said. He noted that Ms Lloyd's failure to give evidence in the hearing did not help clarify "obscurities."
When Sir Rodney refused to make the deductions, "the responsible ministers," who at that time were Health Minister Annette King and Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia, instructed that 30% should be taken out of the total figure after it had been determined, but the victims were not to be told.
The secret deductions might never have come to light had it not been for a slip-up in which one victim, Paul Zentveld, was accidentally told the full sum to which Sir Rodney had deemed he was entitled.
Mr Zentveld, who had been admitted to Lake Alice as a young person, was told in 2002 he would receive $115,000 in compensation, but later was rung by Mr Collins QC and told there was a misunderstanding and this had been reduced to $80,000.
Mr Zentveld took action in the District Court to recover this money and this week Judge Broadmore ordered the Crown to pay up $35,000.
The judge said it would have been reasonable for the claimant to assume that the issue of costs was taken into account by Sir Rodney in making his determination.
"There was no way he could know how much a class action plaintiff with a similar history to his had received net in the hand. Mr Zentveld said in evidence that he had not known nor had he had any contact with any of the class action plaintiffs. He knew only that he had suffered terribly during his time in the unit ... He simply placed his trust in Sir Rodney to take all relevant matters into account and to ensure that the outcome would be fair."
It was not clear at press time whether the Crown would appeal the decision, but it is likely given the judgment came from the lower court.
And the case's implications could be far-reaching, with the Crown likely to have to pay the second tranche of Lake Alice victims their full entitlement. That may lead to the first tranche of victims, those represented by Mr Cameron, demanding that the Crown cover their legal costs to keep the payouts equitable.
Mr Cameron said the government had behaved in an underhand way to save a couple of million dollars.
"The issue is the extreme lengths to which the Labour administration has gone to keep secret the process to take 30% off the top," Mr Cameron said.
Monday, December 7, 2020
The New Zealand Solicitor General opens her mouth and proves what a fool she is
my comments in RED in response to the solicitor generals
18.9 Mr Richards was also a patient in the Child and Adolescent Unit of the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital in the 1970s. His communication to the UNCAT was largely based on Mr Zentveld’s.as would anyone who had been through Lake Alice Mr Richards alleges that he inappropriately received electroconvulsive therapy, electric shocks to the genitals as proven by medical record and case turned down by ACC for cognitive damage and a burn to the penis so hardly alleged inappropriate treatment
, and drugs in the Unit, and that the New Zealand Government has not done enough to hold Dr Leeks to account. Yes well they failed to hold Dr Leeks to account and some of that had to be due to the affidavits from staff being kept from police that she knows full well about the cover-ups
But if you are saying police could not find the evidence to charge Dr Leeks then please explain these comments
So either our police were totally incompetent or the evidence was actively kept from them by crown law and as it is unto crown law to approve Dr Leeks extradition this time will they also refuse to progress the case so as we have little faith in getting justice in NZ we had little choice but to proceed to the UNCAT for resolution
He alleges breaches of articles 2, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the UNCAT. He also alleges that he has not been provided with sufficient rehabilitation by the New Zealand Government, again proven by ACC refusing care and is Ms Jagose aware what rehab is required for torture victims and how we would gain access to such rehab when the state denies torture which may lead to the Committee considering Article 14 of UNCAT, even though it is not expressly mentioned in the communication.well if Una is keen on adding breaches we could also add
Denying brain-injured ECT patients appropriate recognition and care for their disabilities contravenes the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) incl Articles 5, 8, 16, 17, 19, 21, 26 and 28.
18.10 The Government filed its response to Mr Richards’ communication on 27 November 2019. On admissibility, the Government Stated that: the allegations of a breach in the UNCAT prior to 9 January 1990, when the UNCAT entered into force in New Zealand, are inadmissible; so let us be clear are the state saying because it was legal to torture children before 9th Jan 1990 that the treatment at Lake Alice was ok the aspects of the complaint impugn the actions of agents outside the New Zealand Government’s jurisdiction are inadmissible; and Mr Richards has not exhausted his domestic remedies, at the time I filed my complaint with the UNCAT on the 22/03/2018 police were still refusing to take my statement as per many emails to and from police
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and can be confirmed by mike Wesley smith who spoke to the police commissioner on my behalf after releasing what had been overlooked in his interview of me as Police are currently investigating his complaint about Lake Alice and he is likely to have the opportunity to participate in the Royal Commission. Participating in the Royal Commission was not an option when I filed my case of torture with the UNCAT and the Royal Commission has no power to deal with a complaint of torture
18.11 On the merits, the Government has submitted that it has satisfied its obligations under the Convention through the numerous failed reviews and investigations of the Child and Adolescent Unit, including two prior and one current Police investigation, and through the Ex Gracia compensation excepted under duress and apology that was rejected as insincere issued by the Government to former patients of the Child and Adolescent Unit in the early 2000s, including Mr Richards. The Government has also pointed to the Royal Commission which is highly likely to consider the events at the Unit. But cant offer redress for torture so can't fully address our cases of torture as per royal commission statement
And the PMs statement
So with no redress ordered by the UNCAT how is our case going to be settled by the royal commission???????????
The Government has submitted that advancements in medical practice in New Zealand mean that what occurred is exceedingly unlikely to occur again.
Again New Zealand still has seclusion rooms and forced ECT and young people stripped naked loved in seclusion rooms and given ECT please explain how this is a change other than a slight age rise
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/65394326/electric-shock-therapy-in-the-modern-day
Child sex abuse survivor wins payout after electric shock 'therapy'
Child sex abuse survivor wins payout after electric shock 'therapy'
Henrietta CookNovember 15, 2020 — 11.30pm
A former ward of the state who was forced to undergo electric shock "therapy" after disclosing he had been sexually abused has reached an $825,000 settlement with the state government and Uniting Church.
It is believed to be one of the largest top-up payments for a state ward since new laws took effect in Victoria giving victims who have accepted meagre settlements the right to sue again.
Bob Cummings says he finally feels validated after reaching an $825,000 settlement.Eddie Jim
Bob Cummings was 15 when electrodes were strapped to his ankles to "cure him" of homosexuality. It followed the teenager telling a guard at Turana youth training centre that he was being sexually abused by an older boy with whom he shared a cell.
As part of the treatment, Mr Cummings was shown a slide show of topless women and naked men. Every time a naked man appeared on the screen, he received an electric shock.
"I had weepy sores on both ankles because of the burns," he said.
Mr Cummings, 65, remembers being thrown off his chair when the shocks hit unexpectedly and pulsed through his legs.
They became more intense if Mr Cummings reported sexual abuse during his weekly meetings with the therapist.
"I realised if I didn’t report any abuse, the amperage wouldn’t go any higher," he said.
Mr Cummings entered state care after running away from his home near Albury, where he was repeatedly beaten by his father and stepmother and locked in a room, often without food.
After a brief stint at Turana in 1971 he was placed at Harrison House, a Methodist institution for boys in Hawthorn that was later managed by the Uniting Church.
The abuse at Harrison House started immediately: the house manager repeatedly punched the shy teenager, once so hard his head hit the wall and left a dent. He was forced to fondle the house manager’s genitals and perform oral sex, and regularly ordered to wear women’s clothes and raped.
Mr Cummings has devoted his life to youth work, to ensure young people do not experience the same trauma he did.Eddie Jim
After six weeks, Mr Cummings decided to run away. "I could not take being physically and sexually abused any more," he told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
He lived on the streets for a few months before being picked up by police and returned to Turana.
Related Article
In 2007 Mr Cummings accepted what he describes as an "insulting" $15,000 settlement with the Uniting Church and signed a deed of release preventing him from taking further action.
But he was given new hope last year when the state government introduced legislation allowing courts to set aside deeds of release, removing legal barriers that have prevented many victims from seeking more adequate compensation.
Mr Cummings' lawyer, Viv Waller, said the changes had levelled the playing field for survivors of sexual abuse.
"The previous process was distressing and did more harm than good," she said. "Survivors received only a fraction of what they would be entitled to claim now."
Her firm is acting for 35 clients who are pursuing top-up payments, including a man who was abused by the notorious sexual predator Father Gerald Ridsdale.
The Diocese of Ballarat gave him $20,000 in 2002, but Ms Waller's firm negotiated an additional $350,000 in compensation.
1:31
Ridsdale pleads guilty to 12 more assaults
Paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale, who was convicted for assaults on more than 50 children, formally pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting another 12 children on Tuesday.
Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessy said, for too long, survivors of institutional child sexual abuse had "been forced to accept measly payments for the horrendous injustices they suffered".
Mr Cummings danced around the living room of his Yarra Glen home with his wife Linda when he heard the settlement news.
"We couldn’t believe it," he said. "I felt validated, I felt believed."
The softly spoken man has devoted his life to youth work, trying to ensure young people do not experience the same trauma he did.
Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessy.Joe Armao
It was a rewarding career, but he retired five years ago due to the onset of a progressive disease that has left him with no feeling in his hands and below his knees. Doctors cannot rule out the condition being related to the abuse he suffered all those years ago.
Mr Cummings regularly sees a psychologist and, while he adores his wife, he finds it difficult to be intimate.
He practises meditation to manage his pain and lives a peaceful life, surrounded by birds, gums and fruit trees in the rolling hills of the Yarra Valley. "I’m a survivor," he said. "I’m not a victim."
The Uniting Church declined to comment.
For help in a crisis call 000. If you or anyone you know needs support, contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline on 131 114, or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.
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Monday, September 28, 2020
open letter to Jacinda Ardern
LISTEN TO THE WHOLE LAKE ALICE STORY and the abuse of children by politicians in #NZPolitics
https://abuseincare.org.nz/library/v/143/statement-of-leonie-mcinroe-for-state-redress-hearing…
"A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones." -- Nelson Mandela
(“I would like to acknowledge all the children from Lake Alice who have courageously lived through the trauma and the consequences of our time spent there.”
“Children that were defenceless and left unprotected in the most horrible ways, and then left to
navigate our lives as best we could.”
“It is my hope that the outcome of this inquiry is more than just another list of reports and recommendations that are shelved, left gathering dust, and overshadowed by still more reports.”
“That the voices who have so bravely spoken to you, in whatever form, are
honoured and respected and valued enough to make a change.”
Quote from Leoni McInroe testimony to the royal commission )
and we would like the one point five million that was carefully worked out as fair compo for the loss of earnings inflation-adjusted to today's value and paid to every Lake Alice torture victim now and not made to wait 5 more years for the royal commission's rulings as the only fair way to make up for the state perverting the course of justice and the detrimental effect on our lives and our children's lives also the legal fees paid by the first round of claimants who got half that of subsequent rounds to be inflation-adjusted and refunded as this was totally unfair.
The way totally inadequate compo was worked out on time spent in Lake Alice and not how the treatment had effected our lives as that was totally the wrong way to go and being blackmailed into excepting due to our lawyer going broke and saying if
we did not expect we would get nothing better from the state and a bill from him for his services.
You also had a Lake Alice staffer who was one of Dr Leeks righthand men for many years run the sensitive claims unit at ACC turning down all Lake Alice requests for rehab even now we try and access rehab we are refused on technicalities that force us to spend money fighting the decisions in court when the evidence is overwhelmingly clear what happened to us
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Barbaric ECT robbed man of treasured memories
A Christchurch man says "barbaric" electric shock therapy failed to lift his depression but robbed him of treasured memories.
David O'Neill's health deteriorated in 2004 after a motorcycle accident damaged his liver, bladder and thyroid and sliced his spleen in two.
He had repeated admissions to hospital for complications of his injuries and a series of unsuccessful investigations to find the cause of his chronic abdominal pain.
The frequent hospital stays and constant pain took its toll on his mental health.
"I ended up suicidal," said O'Neill.
He was admitted to Hillmorton Hospital in 2005 for depression. On his second stay, a doctor recommended a 12-session course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which O'Neill consented to.
"I cannot even remember being admitted to the hospital, never mind giving consent for the ECT," he said.
The treatment failed to lift his depression and it destroyed his memory. He has no recollection of his wedding day, the birth of his three children or even his childhood.
O'Neill, now 49, said that before his accident he had cared for his wife – paralysed in a 1985 car accident – and raised their three children.
"Now I can't do anything. I feel as if I'm above myself all the time. I don't feel pain; I'm emotion-free," he said.
ECT was "barbaric" and should be banned, he said.
His family is dismayed it was not consulted and says O'Neill was not well enough to give properly informed consent.
Daughter Julieanne O'Neill said her father no longer felt any love for his family, including his two-year-old grandson.
"My dad has no feelings for him, no feelings for his family. He doesn't feel anything for himself. He is living in an empty shell," she said. "It has taken every single bit of my dad that was ever there away from him."
She said some doctors appeared to see ECT as "the quickest and easiest" solution. "But it's not them that has to go home and have this zombie person to cope with."
Mary O'Neill said the shock treatment had stolen the husband she had known.
Psychiatric Consumers Trust advocate Liz Henderson said ECT could lift depression and transform the lives of patients. "There is a place for it." But it had clearly failed O'Neill.
"It has compounded what was already a difficult situation," Henderson said.
Henderson was concerned that consent was gained without his family's involvement. "He wasn't well enough to make that decision."
Vince Barry, general manager of Canterbury District Health Board mental health services, would not discuss individual patients.
However, he said it was the responsibility of clinicians to determine whether a patient was able to understand the pros and cons of ECT. "It would be unusual for someone to be given ECT without a discussion between the clinical team and close family members," he said.
The Health and Disability Commissioner has decided against a formal investigation of O'Neill's case and referred him to an advocate.
The Accident Compensation Corporation has refused his treatment injury claim, ruling that the ECT did not cause a physical injury.
Date Published:
May 09, 2007 03:00 AM
Author: KAMALA HAYMAN
Source: The Press, New Zealand
Saturday, April 25, 2020
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Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Thursday, December 19, 2019
New Zealand the world capital of child torture
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Secret New Zealand state abuse lists
- The New Zealand Herald 1 Aug 2019 David Fisher investigations