Duncan Garner has slammed the "sickening" level of child abuse in New Zealand, saying there is "blood on our hands".
He said on The AM Show this morning the cycle of intergenerational child abuse needs to be broken and people who see abuse happening in their families need to speak out.
"We have blood on our hands in some New Zealand families, and these families are families that have been abused themselves before in different generations," Garner said.
It was reported yesterday that 94 children were killed in between the horrific abuse that saw the deaths of three-year-old Nia Glassie in 2007 and toddler Moko Rangitoheriri in 2015.
Garner said despite decades of talk about bringing in early intervention measures and changing things, we haven't stopped the "sickening" problem and people need to step up.
"We need one person in these families to stand up, to step up and say 'stop'."
He said he was hit as a child, but he doesn't hit his own children.
"I'm a Dad. I've got kids. I love them dearly. I don't hit them. I was hit as a youngster... probably deserved it. But I've stopped that. I don't like the idea of it. It didn't work for me. I learnt nothing from it."
Garner says he got to know the family of toddler Moko Rangitoheriri, who died in 2015 after months of abuse, and says they were "not a perfect family by any means".
"But he didn't deserve to die. He died an awful, horrific death, so we must do better in New Zealand. 94 kids dead since 2007. We've got to stop. We've got to change in families. One leader per family - that's all we're asking for."
Newshub.
