National deputy leader Nicola Willis, DPM Grant Robertson and Justice Minister Kiri Allan on the Nat's boot camp policy. Video / Mark Mitchell
Legislative change would be required to facilitate National’s plan to electronically monitor children under 12 years old who have twice committed serious offences.
It comes as Children’s Commissioner Judge Frances Eivers expresses her disappointment at National’s policies, stating getting tough on young offenders “almost never works”, adding her voice to multiple political parties that have slammed National’s proposal.
National leader Christopher Luxon today unveiled his party’s youth crime policies in Hamilton alongside his police and justice spokespeople and local byelection candidate, Tama Potaka.
The policies included creating a new young serious offender category for offenders aged 10-17 who have committed a serious offence like a ram raid at least twice. Consequences would include being sent to a young offender military academy, being electronically monitored or being placed under intensive supervision.
The academies would be reserved for 15 to 17-year-olds to provide “discipline, mentoring and intensive rehabilitation” for up to 12 months.
A stronger focus on gangs and empowering community groups to break the offending cycle were also included.
Nationally, youth crime was decreasing, but spikes had been observed in Auckland and Waikato. Ram raids, which earlier this year saw a more than 500 per cent increase from previous years, had begun to reduce in frequency.
A Mount Eden liquor store was damaged during a ram raid. Photo / Hayden Woodward
In May, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said most ram-raiders tormenting Auckland retailers were younger than 15. Other reports indicated offenders were less than 10 years old.
According to the Ministry of Justice, most young people in the Youth Court were 14-17 years old, but 12 and 13-year-olds could be included if they were charged with particularly serious offences.
Given this, it was understood the office of the Children’s Commissioner was seeking to learn through what legal mechanism electronic monitoring or intensive supervision orders would be imposed on those under 12 under National’s plan.
National justice spokesman Paul Goldsmith confirmed a law change would be necessary to address child offenders under 12 years old.
“Most of the tools are available now but the reality is that they’re very, very rarely used and so the primary purpose of the designation is to send a clearer message ultimately that we want a wider range of potential tools for youths,” he told the Herald.
He said it was likely the more punitive measures would be targeted at “tens of people” per year, indicating its narrow focus.
Goldsmith confirmed electronic monitoring and intensive supervision orders could be imposed on anyone in the 10-17 age group under the policy, but said there would be a scale based on age and nature of offending.
“It’s not something that we’re wanting for 10 or 11-year-olds, but it’s something that potentially could be used for that very small group.
“The younger you go, the less likely you will be in that category.”
National justice spokesman Paul Goldsmith. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The military academy policy was very similar to what National proposed in 2017 which was a year-long, defence-led junior training academy based at the Waiouru military camp. It was also paired with a young serious offender classification.
According to National, the military academies would be run “in partnership with the Defence Force”.
Speaking to media this morning, National police spokesman Mark Mitchell said his party had consulted with the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) on the 2017 proposal while in Government and he had received positive indications as to its feasibility.
In response to a query from the Herald, an NZDF spokesperson said no advice had been offered to National on military academies and they wouldn’t comment on the policy’s feasibility.
Mitchell, speaking to the Herald, said National was in “no position” to consult with NZDF now because it was in Opposition.
“For us to want to sit down and start discussing policy and what they can do, that’s just not going to happen.”
Political parties including Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori had criticised National for the policies they deemed would make “faster and fitter criminals”, were racist and classist, and gave whānau no long-term workable solutions respectively.
Amnesty International NZ campaigns director Lisa Woods said she was concerned National’s “tough on crime narratives” risked ignoring the “wealth of evidence” that showed punitive approaches didn’t address youth crime sufficiently.
A 2018 report by the Prime Minister’s former chief science adviser, Sir Peter Gluckman, said boot camps did not work and similar programmes had been shown to increase crime.
Mitchell said he was confident military academies would be a success as they would be closely modelled on the currently running Limited Service Volunteer (LSV) programme.
LSV is described as a six-week, voluntary work-readiness residential training course delivered in partnership with the NZDF and police for 18 to 24-year-olds at risk of long-term unemployment.
An evaluation report completed by the Ministry of Social Development in 2018 found those in the programme with a higher likelihood of long-term benefit dependence were more likely to spend more time in employment and earn more income, and male participants aged 20-24 spent less time in prison after LSV.
However, it also found participants under 20 years old achieved a lower-level qualification on average than their peers.
As described by National, military academies were not voluntary, youths aged 15-17 could be there for as long as a year, and it would house the highest-offending young people in the country.
Mitchell defended the proposal and what it could achieve.
“Me personally, I think we’re going to have very good results from it.
“It’s not a hard sell for me at all, we’re putting a line in the sand, we’re not having any more of these ram raids, we’re not having any more of these victimisations.”
In a statement, Children’s Commissioner Judge Frances Eivers urged National to reconsider its policies.
“Around every five years or so, the idea of boot camps – rebranded with a new shiny name – resurfaces, " she said.
“I get it. We are all concerned when we see what feels like outbreaks of offending, such as the recent ram raids, but dusting off old solutions that didn’t work then and won’t work now is not the answer.
