Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on the potential of extending the residential part of the bootcamps. Video/ Mark Mitchell
Children’s Minister Karen Chhour says a third bootcamp participant is accused of reoffending but is giving no further details as the Government defends its young offender rehabilitation pilot.
Chhour made the statement in the House today under questioning from Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime about the extent of reoffending from the pilot’s now nine members.
“There has been three young people that have had accusations of re-offending,” Chhour said.
Asked whether Oranga Tamariki had advised her of any other incidents, Chhour said: “Nothing that is in the public interest currently”.
Previously, Chhour and Oranga Tamariki officials had only confirmed two participants had allegedly reoffended since the pilot transitioned from its three-month in-residence phase at Palmerston North’s youth justice facility in October to the nine-month in-community phase.
Children's Minister Karen Chhour fronted a Parliament select committee last week where she made comments about the bootcamp. Photo / Jamie Ensor
The Herald has requested further information from Chhour’s office and Oranga Tamariki. Chhour’s office referred the Herald to Oranga Tamariki. Oranga Tamariki is yet to respond.
Last week, Chhour criticised Oranga Tamariki for what she considered “unacceptable” communication that led to her being unaware a second participant had gone missing before she had told the Herald only one had absconded.
Prime, Labour’s children’s spokeswoman, believed Chhour had “lost control” of the pilot.
“It’s with each passing day that the concerns about the Government’s bootcamps deepen, with the risk of harm becoming greater,” she said.
“With the minister claiming there’s nothing more she can speak to that is in the public interest, I worry about how much is being left untold.”
Chhour and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon fiercely defended the bootcamp pilot in the days following the revelations of one participant’s death due to a car accident and the two absconding participants.
There is no current link between the accident and the participant’s involvement in the pilot.
A teen bootcamp participant died in two-vehicle crash involving a bus that has closed State Highway 1 near Tīrau late last month.
Chhour has spoken about the widespread grief caused by the boy’s death in late November, having attended his tangi herself on Tuesday last week.
It was at that tangi when the first absconding incident occurred with one bootcamp participant escaping two Oranga Tamariki minders. A second participant went missing the following day.
The pair were not located until Saturday, when it was confirmed they were two of four police had arrested, allegedly having taken part in an attempted carjacking in Hamilton while possessing weapons including a machete.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
