The New Zealand government announced a Royal Commission of Inquiry would be launched investigating historic abuse in state care, in a press conference headed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday, February 1.Minister for Children Tracey Martin said the time period covered would likely be from the 1950s through to the 1990s, “the logic of that being that in the 1950s, a number of children’s homes were opened in New Zealand, and that is when the bulk of children were taken into care.”It is alleged as many as 100,000 children – mostly Maori – were abused between the 1950s and 1990s, TVNZ reported, citing the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.On Thursday, Ardern said the inquiry could take three years or longer, and would be headed by former Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand. Credit: New Zealand Labour Party via Storyful