March 07, 2024
Peters defends OT punishment camps
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says opposition to boot camps is coming from a cacophony of clowns.
Children’s Minister Karen Chhuor from ACT says Oranga Tamariki will a pilot military-style camp for young offenders by the middle of the year.
Experts say there is no evidence such camps reduce offending and in fact they can expose participants to the risk of violence and abuse.
But Mr Peters compares them to the Limited Service Volunteer scheme set up under the Labour-New Zealand First Government in 2017, when the Defence Force ran intensive six-week courses to teach life and motivational skills to young unemployed – which he says were particularly successful for young Maori.
“Here we go, do something to help youth turn their lives around, and the usual cacophony of clowns calling themselves experts say this won’t work. They’ve never talked to (Brian) Poananga. They’ve never talked to the Maori who were the heads of the military in this country. They just carry on giving their views and the media blindly, ignorantly report them,” Mr Peterssays.