To inquire into and to report upon conditions and influences that tend to undermine standards of sexual morality of children and adolescents in New Zealand, and the extent to which such conditions and influences are operative, and to make recommendations to the Government for positive action by both public and private agencies, or otherwise.

The Committee held its first meeting on Tuesday, 27 July, to determine points of procedure and to make arrangements to hear all who desired to make submissions.  There were placed before the Committee files of letters which had been written to Ministers of the Crown, and hundreds of newspaper clippings, relating to this topic.  Some days were occupied in the sorting and reading of this material in anticipation of the task which lay ahead.

The Committee commenced the hearing of evidence at Wellington on Tuesday, 3 August.  It sat in Christchurch for the convenience of people in the South Island on 31 August and 1 September, and in Auckland from 6 September to 10 September.

Altogether 145 persons (18 on more than one occasion), appearing either in a representative capacity or as private individuals, were heard.  In addition, 203 written submissions were made by interested organizations and private persons, and a large volume of relevant correspondence, addressed direct to the Committee, was considered.  A list of the persons who appeared before the Committee and of the organizations or societies which made either written or oral representations is attached.

It should here be observed that the Committee, not having the powers of a Commission of Inquiry, could not summon witnesses before it.  All officers of the Crown, and all public agencies from whom information was sought, were helpful.  Much of the evidence, however, was secondary or hearsay evidence.  The Committee had not the power to trace some of the stated facts back to their source.

It was thought undesirable to interview any of the children involved in recent happenings.  Reliance had to be placed on information regarding each individual made available by the police and Child Welfare Officers, and, in some cases, by the heads of their respective schools.  Similarly, there was much secondary evidence of indecent behaviour and of other facts said to have been derived from reliable sources.  The absence of direct evidence on some of these matters, however, did not prevent the Committee from looking at the problem in its broad general aspects, and from reaching conclusions which could not be affected by a closer scrutiny of some of the individual matters narrated to the Committee.

III.  Narrative

=(1) The Hutt Valley Cases=

Before proceeding to examine the extent of sexual laxity among children and adolescents it is convenient to narrate the factual happenings which caused this problem to assume such large proportions in the public mind in July and August last.