The facility for the government's military style academy pilot for youth offenders in Palmerston North. Photo: RNZ / Rachel Helyer-Donaldson
The Green Party is calling on the government to abandon boot camps, after 'Scrutiny Week' questioning revealed another intake of the controversial programme is planned for early next year.
During their appearances at Parliament's Scrutiny Week committees, Minister for Children Karen Chhour and Oranga Tamariki officials were asked if they would move forward with another boot camp or military-style academy (MSA), before the law making it a sentencing option was passed.
The minister denied decisions had been made, but officials later said another camp with a new design was planned for the early new year.
Oranga Tamariki confirmed to RNZ it planned to run a further voluntary programme in March 2026.
The Responding to Serious Youth Offending Amendment Bill, introduced in November last year, would give judges the sentencing option of a MSA for repeat serious offenders.
The discrepancy between the minister's statements and those of officials was "what Scrutiny Week is actually about - digging into what ministers and officials are saying, compared to what they are doing, and this was a big red flag", Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter said.
Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
While passing the legislation may take another six months, job vacancies for the next iteration of the MSA were already advertised, she said.
Carter accused the government of putting the cart before the horse.
"We have a minister and ministry officials saying there are no definite decisions being made, but they are actively recruiting before legislation is in place."
The "tough on crime" rhetoric came amid rising poverty, hefty cuts to community programmes working with youth and other policies affecting vulnerable families, she said.
"We've got a government who is pushing through with cancelling emergency housing, cancelling access to emergency food parcels and bringing in benefit sanctions. All of these things are key indicators of outcomes for children."
The minister was using young people as a political football to push a tough-on-crime rhetoric, Carter said.
The next boot camp appeared to have been devised without strong evidence on the success of the pilot.
The minister had "cherry-picked" information from the independent evaluation and Carter believed another review was pending.
"My understanding is that the review has been commissioned, but they're moving forward without it being complete, which just looks like one failed boot camp experiment to the next, without legislation, without making the changes that are needed, without investing in the communities and the people who have been doing this mahi for decades."
The move also conflicted with the wishes of survivors of abuse in care and recommendations of the Abuse in Care Royal Commission, Carter said.
The Green Party wanted to see the plan ditched in favour of more funding for programmes that worked with young people in their communities. Boot camps were a failed experiment, she said.
"History has shown us - like in the royal commission of inquiry - that doesn't work. What works is wrapping support around those kids and making sure we're taking a holistic view of their lives.
"That's where things like housing, poverty, having food on the table, education, vocational training, comes into it - where [there are] opportunities for them to participate fully in society.
A ministry evaluation of MSAs held in 2009 and 2010, and sent to Oranga Tamariki staff in March 2024, before the pilot programme, underscored many of the same criticisms found in the independent evaluation of last year's pilot.
The earlier camps were found to have insufficient screening of staff and participants, lack of clarity around roles, inadequate information, training and resources, and required better engagement with whānau and a need to involve iwi services.
Minister for Children Karen Chhour. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
The evaluation of last year's pilot noted "meaningful and positive change" for the young people, but named challenges like rushed implementation, challenging transitions, a lack of continuity around therapeutic support, a lack of capacity in the residential phase, the need to engage with mana whenua earlier and belated support for whānau.
It also found the pilot was too small to provide any meaningful data.
During the pilot, participants ran away, one was kicked out of the programme and another was killed in a three-vehicle crash. Seven of the 10 young men involved re-offended, according to Oranga Tamariki.
Critics said the government was recycling old failures, pushing ahead with an already failed model, but Oranga Tamariki said it had integrated lessons from the earlier programmes.
Groups, including Save the Children, the Law Society and the Children's Commissioner, have urged the government to abandon the scheme.
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