5. CHESTER BORROWS (National—Whanganui) Link to this
to the Minister for Social Development and Employment
What plans does the Government have to deal with the most serious and persistent young offenders?
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) Link to this
The new Fresh Start programme, announced yesterday, will give judges many of the tools they have been asking for to break cycles of reoffending.
What is the difference between the corrective training programmes of 20 years ago and the new military activity camps?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
There are several key differences. Fresh Start is not like corrective training; rather, it is a concentrated long-term strategy to address the behaviour of some of the most high-risk young offenders. Core components of the military-style camps—intensive mentoring, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and literary and numeracy programmes—are completely new and were never part of the old corrective training scheme.
Jacinda ArdernHow does the Minister plan to address the risk factors associated with youth offending—including poverty; dysfunctional, disadvantaged, and violent families; and alcohol and drug abuse—given her Government’s proposed cuts to Pathways to Partnership, which worked to address these very issues; or would her Government rather focus on offender programmes that just do not work?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I thank the member for that scaremongering political speech to the non-governmental organisation sector! Fortunately, those organisations see more sense and know that we are working together on plans for these young offenders and on what really needs to be done. We take this programme seriously: we are committed to it, we will fund it accordingly, and we will make it work.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
Yes. Last night I heard TV3 saying that the Prime Minister had delivered on another election promise with the announcement of the new Fresh Start programme, and commenting that Labour was on the wrong side of the issue. In addition, a poll out this morning showed that more than two-thirds of participants think that Fresh Start will help young offenders. Finally, the mother of murder victim Michael Choy was interviewed last night, and she welcomed the new approach to turning young offenders’ lives round.