The lawyer heading the legal team representing Gloriavale leavers says the Government needs to act now to protect the victims of the leaders.

With an appeal court decision on Monday supporting the Bank of New Zealand’s decision in May to close all Gloriavale accounts, Brian Henry says the residents still in the remote West Coast religious, which include hundreds of children, must be protected from their leaders who will never change.

“I don’t know how much more these poor people have to endure before the Government steps in,” says Mr Henry.

Media reports suggest that despite committing to looking for other banking arrangements, Gloriavale leaders did not provide any evidence to support that they had done this.

“If Gloriavale is not able to have bank accounts, the community can’t continue,” he says.

Mr Henry says he finds it difficult to understand how the religious community has been allowed to operate despite the school closing, a significant number of current and former members being convicted of sexual offences, and residents being used as slaves when the leaders of the community called them volunteers.

“Anywhere else in the world this place would have been gone long before now,” he says. “I can’t understand why our Government allows it to remain. I’m calling for them to act now and close Gloriavale down.”

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