AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au
Former Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Grafton admits he had “fallen very short” in his oversight
SMILING Bishop Keith Slater smiles so much he apologised for doing it before giving evidence at the harrowing royal commission into child sex abuse today.
“I apologise in advance if I may seem to smile at time which is not appropriate,” he explained. It was just his “personality”.
But there was nothing to smile about as the commission heard a litany of Bishop Slater’s failures to help more than 40 victims of physical and sexual child abuse at the former North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore, adequately compensate them or report their church abusers to authorities.
“On reflection,” Bishop Slater agreed in the witness box, that withdrawing the church’s compensation offer to victims at one stage to help broker a better settlement was at odds with any kind of moral approach.
Commission chair, Justice Peter McClennan, said: “When you say ‘the settlement being brokered’ I take it what you mean is achieving the best outcome for the church?”
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