A survivor of torture at the notorious Lake Alice child and adolescent unit was forced to live in his house bus in a public car park after his accommodation supplement was wrongly cancelled.
This meant Paul Zentveld, who has a King’s Service Medal for services to survivors of abuse in care, couldn’t pay his rent.
There are concerns other Lake Alice survivors could be in the same situation.
Torture compensation rules not followed
Zentveld is one of more than 100 Lake Alice survivors who have opted for a $150,000 compensation payment for torture suffered during the 1970s at the unit, under the watch of Dr Selwyn Leeks.
Others have negotiated settlements through arbitration.
These payments are part of a government compensation package that followed an apology from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in late 2024 for abuse in state and faith-based care.
But last October, Zentveld ran into problems with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), when his accommodation supplement was wrongly cut.
“In October when I got my pension they cancelled it and said, ‘You’re not entitled to it’,” Zentveld said.
MSD staff determined that a boat he bought with his compensation money ruled him ineligible for support.
“I had an asset, a boat in Auckland. I couldn’t get any help coming back to, or any support off MSD, to come back from Christchurch either.”
Mistreatment continues – abuse survivor
Last year, Zentveld moved to Christchurch to be closer to family, but when his accommodation supplement stopped he couldn’t pay his rent, so had to park his house bus in a public car park.
He’s since returned to Auckland and successfully appealed to MSD’s benefits review committee against the decision denying him the supplement.
Lake Alice compensation money shouldn’t count when MSD assesses a person’s eligibility for a benefit, nor should assets bought from it, such as Zentveld’s boat.
He said MSD’s decision felt as if mistreatment of survivors of abuse was continuing.
“This clawing back – what MSD are doing and all these things against the survivors for redress – this is not saying sorry. This is not making things right. It continues year after year.”
Zentveld would receive back payments for the money he’d missed, although he now faced another wait, as his current landlord was overseas and MSD required an invoice from him.
Zentveld said the landlord was OK with him getting in arrears and catching up later, if needed.
Call to review other decisions
MSD’s group general manager for client service delivery Graham Allpress said officials received the review committee’s decision on 29 June and were “working through next steps”.
“We will update the client once this decision has been implemented.”
RNZ asked if in light of the decision, MSD would check other decisions affecting Lake Alice survivors who had received compensation.
“All decisions of the benefits review committee, including this one, only apply to a client’s individual case,” Allpress said.
“This decision will be considered as part of ongoing work around Lake Alice redress payments and the welfare system.”
He said if a person didn’t agree with a decision about a benefit, MSD would let them know about their rights to appeal.
“Our staff do their best to support clients and make the appropriate decisions based on information they have available at the time.”
Zentveld said MSD’s response wasn’t good enough.
“MSD top brass should review all the Lake Alice survivors and refund them, because it’s not right…
“I’ve got them. I’ve busted them wide open at their own game.”
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