Judith Collins, the key minister handling the Government response to the 2019 Christchurch terror attack, says the full “wraparound” support that was once offered to victims will now be reduced.
Speaking ahead of a meeting with survivors this afternoon, Collins said the Government was not renewing funding for some programmes because it was time for a new phase.
But that’s come as a shock to some of the affected families, many of whom are still traumatised.
Extra help has long been in place for victims of the March 15, 2019 attack, which saw a white supremacist terrorist murder 51 people in two Christchurch mosques.
Last week, the new coalition Government decided not to renew some of that funding, including one service described as a “lifeline”.
The Ministry of Social Development announced the “wraparound” service, Kaiwhakaoranga, will end next month. It gives victims specialist case managers to help them apply for support from various Government agencies.
ACC support has also recently expired for some families, and the ministerial advisory group Kāpuia – which works to prevent future terror attacks – has not been extended, and will end in June.
Meanwhile, the Government is considering reintroducing, in some settings, the same semi-automatic firearms that were used to kill dozens of people.
Feelings reached a peak on Tuesday, when Al Noor mosque imam Gamal Fouda wrote to the prime minister relaying his “profound shock” at the Kaiwhakaora decision, saying “it shows a lack of consideration for the survivors and their families”.
Fouda was one of the delegation meeting Collins, who is working to implement recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the attacks, and ACC Minister Matt Doocey in Christchurch today.
Several other survivors of the attacks also headed into the meeting, one walking with crutches and another in a wheelchair.
Speaking to 1News beforehand, Collins said she felt deeply for the families but the Government planned to change the support it offered.
“We do need to be able to move through to making sure that a lot of the services become part of the normal reaction of the agencies with every individual,” she said.
That would mean offering affected families the same treatment as all others, requiring survivors – many of whom are still struggling – to make applications for support without specialist help.
Collins rejected claims that the Government was abandoning the community, saying the suggestion was “wrong”.
“I think a lot of the things that we have been doing are now becoming very much part of the normal work of the officials and the departments and ministries,” she said.
“I think everyone's realised we need to get in a position to not just talk to the community but actually to look at individual's needs, because every individual's needs are different.”
Christchurch Muslim leaders are still discussing the meeting and plan release a united statement later on, to respond to those comments.
However, the March 15 Whanau Trust, which represents many affected families, said it simply wanted survivors to be able to “live happy good lives”.
“Unfortunately that wasn’t able to happen through the terror attack, so here we are,” said one of the trustees, Tyla Harrison-Hunt.
“I think that under any government there does need to continue to be support, that’s something we all agree on, from both sides – both the Government and the whanau side – the question right now that stands, is what kind of support does that mean, and whether we can meet in the middle.”
A full statement, incorporating the views of the entire community, will be sent out next week once leaders have had a chance to talk it over.
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