Ruth Dyson describes Whakapakari youth justice programme on Great Barrier as 'horrific'

The state-run programme, active from the late 1980s, was closed suddenly in 2004 after government investigators concluded it operated with a culture of violence. Photo / File

A former minister whose department oversaw an infamous Great Barrier bootcamp described as "Lord of the Flies" by residents has described the youth justice facility as "horrific".

Labour MP Ruth Dyson tonight told TVNZ's Sunday programme she was unaware of the extent of abuse at the Whakapakari youth justice programme.

"The fact I didn't know means perhaps I should have been asking more questions," she said.

Ruth Dyson. Photo / Glenn Taylor

Dyson, the associate minister for social services from 1999 in the fifth Labour government and the minister for social development from 2007, told Sunday the state-funded programme had failed in rehabilitating its clients and "turned them into resentful and angry young people who would never trust the system again".

The isolated and rudimentary programme, active from the late 1980s, was closed suddenly in 2004 after government investigators concluded it operated with a culture of violence with a majority of residents suffering assault.

Dyson told TVNZ: "A lot of government money was put into that programme. And, in the end, it resulted in the state funding violence and abuse towards young people. That's how horrific it is."

Sunday also interviewed David Bagely, the key witness in a 2015 Herald expose on Whakapakari showing residents had been made to dig what they were told were their own graves and subject to mock-executions.

RETURN TO THE ISLAND

FULL CLIP: How did a taxpayer-funded boot camp for troubled teens end up damaging many of them for life? Here's the full clip of Jehan Casinader's story. The Government says its historic claims process is robust, and there's no need for an independent inquiry. Do you agree? Tell us in the comments below.

Posted by Sunday TVNZ on Sunday, 6 August 2017

This incident was never properly investigated, despite multiple complaints from residents and Whakapakari staff, with the Children's Commissioner later writing a report highly critical of the Ministry's handling of the affair.

The Herald has reported extensively on the Whakapakari programme, and the tortured quest by former residents for justice.

Attempts to seek redress through the courts have met stiff opposition from government, with the Ministry spending more than $1m fighting a handful of claims for more than a decade before recently settling for a fraction of this legal bill.