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RNZ News
18-06-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Children's minister Karen Chhour criticised for lack of transparency over bootcamps
Karen Chhour. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Opposition MPs are criticising the children's minister for a lack of transparency regarding the government's bootcamps, despite more than $30 million dollars being allocated towards future versions of it while the pilot hasn't finished yet. Labour's Willow Jean-Prime said the government knew the bootcamps weren't working, but refused to admit that and was "pouring more money in anyway." Karen Chhour continues to back the pilot though, saying it was about giving young people a chance, but acknowledged the death of one participant derailed some of those taking part. Chhour was questioned by Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori about the government's youth military academies in a scrutiny hearing on Wednesday. She was also grilled on contracting decisions by Oranga Tamariki and the latest report from the Independent Children's Monitor on outcomes for young Māori in care. Labour's Willow Jean-Prime. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Prime referenced the latest report evaluating the progress of the academies that she said was "uploaded quietly" onto Oranga Tamariki's website last week. It's the second preliminary report and focuses on the transition of the young people in the pilot from the residential phase to the community phase. Some of the findings included a reduction in the "seriousness and frequency of offending" and spending longer in the community were "successes", and had been observed for some but not all the teenagers in the cohort. In terms of the reduction in offending, the final report - due later this year - would include analysis of police data. However, it noted the small number of participants meant it was unlikely any "statistically robust conclusions" would be drawn about the impact the programme had on reoffending compared to other youth justice residences. The report also stated the detailed design and planning of the transition phase began "late" in the residential phase, which led to a "disconnect" between the residential and community phases. It pointed out social workers had key roles in transition and worked well with mentors but "did not have enough preparation or capacity". Most mentors formed a close relationship with the teenager they were supporting, but there was a lack of clarity on some aspects of the mentor role itself. Prime quizzed the minister on why nobody was alerted to the report being released publicly, given the "public interest" in the issue. Chhour said she wouldn't normally alert people personally when a report was released. Prime then asked - from the evaluation - whether the minister was confident the experiment had been a success, given the coalition was investing an additional $33 million into military style academies, and whether it was a good response to youth offending. Chhour said it wasn't the only response to youth offending, and she "absolutely" supported the initiative, but said she wasn't in a place to say whether it had been a success or not. "Yet - you're giving it $33 million?" Prime interjected. "This is still in a pilot stage," Chhour said, "it still has a review process to go through once the pilot has ended." "What I am confident about is the legislation that's going through allows us to pivot, to learn from things that may not have worked within the pilot, and actually pivot to change the things that did work within the pilot, so the legislation allows for that." Prime asked whether it had led to a reduction in reoffending, saying that was the "primary objective" of the academies. Chhour rejected that, saying the primary objective was to give young people a chance not to enter the correction system. She refused to provide any detail on how many young people had reoffended. Prime noted the report had stated six of the participants had been interviewed in the residence during the community phase, suggesting that meant 60 percent of participants had reoffended. Prime pointed to the academy being entrenched into law before the pilot was completed, saying the report didn't give any reoffending rate which was "disappointing". "You all know that is the information that we are seeking to be able to assess whether this is working." Kahurangi Carter. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith The Greens' Kahurangi Carter also said the releasing of the report hadn't been a "transparent process" because media and politicians weren't alerted. She asked whether the rangatahi "actually had" support in the community, which was key to the pilot. National Director of Youth Justice Residences and Home at Oranga Tamariki, Iain Chapman, said it was a pilot and "you learn from a pilot". He said there'd been elements of success in the residence phase, but some "learnings" from the transition to community phase. Those lessons would be taken, along with the evaluation toward the end of the year, and inform any future military style academy. Labour's Helen White then called the project a "flop" and criticised the Minister for funding her "pet project" rather than allocating that money toward reducing the amount of violence in society which leads to the deaths of women and children. Helen White. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith Chhour responded by saying it was "disingenuous" to "sit there and yell across this table like I'm not doing anything to protect these young people." "It's not either or ... we have to work at both ends of this" she said. White doubled down, saying violence was a crisis, and did the Minister agree "we have to be open minded if something doesn't work, and redirect money into things that do work." Chhour agreed, saying that was exactly why there had been a review of all contracts, and White interjected asking "would you like to go there?" and Prime attempting to offer the Auditor-General's findings. Chair of the committee Joseph Mooney. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Chair of the committee Joseph Mooney called for the question to be answered, with Prime scoffing in frustration. "I absolutely do agree we have to make sure there are outcomes for the money we are spending on our contracts, which is what the review process was about moving forward," Chhour replied. Prime then tried to get further detail about future military academies, such as where and when they would run, what the projected numbers were for those who would take part, and the cost per participant. Chhour said she couldn't talk about the next iteration because it was still a "pilot" and decisions hadn't yet been made as to how that money would be allocated once the pilot had ended. "We look at the learnings from the pilot, and once the legislation goes through, then we can make some of those decisions. But I can't give you answers on decisions that haven't been made yet." Prime pointed out there was a budget allocation for it, so there must be some information or modelling about the future versions, and queried how the specific allocation of money was decided on. Chhour said the money was there to provide certainty that contracts can be procured where necessary. She said the money may not be spent, or she may need to bid for more money. Chapman also chimed in saying there were a lot of "variables" but there were no definite decisions. Prime said multiple times her question hadn't been answered, raising a point of order, to which Chair Joseph Mooney decided the question had been addressed and moved on. The final evaluation of the bootcamp pilot will be released in late 2025. Kahurangi Carter also raised the report which found Oranga Tamariki was "poorly prepared" to carry out its contracting round during the 2024/25 financial year, and fell short of expectations for public organisations. The report stated the effects of the decisions by the child protection agency were "still not known" and this was "unacceptable". Carter asked whether Minister accepted the findings, to which she said she accepted the processes that were happening could not continue, and there had to be accountability for contracts. "I'm never going to apologise," Chhour said. She said the Auditor-General had a right to say what he did, but there'd been no scrutiny or accountability on contracts, and she wouldn't apologise for asking the agency to have outcomes for the money it was spending to protect children. Asked whether she stood by her statement that Oranga Tamariki had been a cash-cow for community service providers, Chhour said "absolutely I stand by that statement". 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RNZ News
04-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Oral Questions for Wednesday 4 June 2025
Questions to Ministers Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions? DANA KIRKPATRICK to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has she seen on the economy? RAWIRI WAITITI to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions? Hon BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister of Finance: Does she stand by all her statements and actions? Dr VANESSA WEENINK to the Minister of Education: What announcements has she made regarding school property as part of Budget 2025? Hon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME to the Minister of Education: Does she stand by all her statements and actions in relation to pay equity in the education sector? TOM RUTHERFORD to the Minister of Justice: What recent reports has he seen about tools to reduce retail crime? CHLÖE SWARBRICK to the Prime Minister: E tautoko ana ia i nga korero me nga mahi katoa a tona Kawanatanga? Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions? Hon JAN TINETTI to the Associate Minister of Education: Does he stand by his statement that the previous pay parity regime for early childhood education was "putting enormous funding pressure on the centers"; if so, does he view increasing pay for ECE teachers to be a funding pressure? CARL BATES to the Minister for Tourism and Hospitality: What recent announcement has she made about regional events funding? RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Will the 13,200 low-income households who will have their housing assistance reduced due to the Government's changes to the calculation of housing subsidies be better or worse off as a result? Hon PHIL TWYFORD to the Minister of Immigration: How many people were informed in error following Immigration New Zealand's online ballot in May that they had won the right to apply for a parent residence visa? To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
29-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford regrets email ‘spam' remarks after backlash
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said Thursday she regretted remarks made in Parliament earlier in the month when she likened unsolicited emails from Indians to "spam". When answering parliamentary questions about the use of her private email on 6 May, Stanford said she had received a number of emails from people in India asking for immigration advice, which she never responded to. She told RNZ she had been receiving emails from all over the world, and she would not have singled out any particular country if she could go back in time. Stanford said she never intended to upset anyone when she made the comments. "You know, it wasn't my intent to draw out one particular country," Stanford told RNZ on Thursday. "It was just a recent example that I happened to have in my head at the time. "If I could go back and not say that particular country, of course I would." When asked if she regretted making those remarks, Stanford said, "Looking back, of course". "I would have said many people from many countries e-mail me asking for a job and a visa, and I do treat those as spam because clearly no minister in any country would be expected to respond to such an e-mail saying, 'Can I please have a job' and 'Can I please have a visa' from someone who's not stepped foot in the country before," she said. On 6 May, Labour's Willow-Jean Prime asked Stanford to confirm every email related to her ministerial portfolios, which had ever been sent to or from her personal email account, had been captured for official record. The question followed revelations a day earlier that Stanford had used her personal email account for work purposes, including sending herself pre-Budget announcements to print out. "I have complied with the Official Information Act. I have also made sure that everything is available to be captured and have forwarded everything that I've needed to my parliamentary email address," Stanford said in response to the Labour MP's question. "I will acknowledge, though, in a very similar case to Kelvin Davis, I receive a lot of unsolicited emails like, for example, things from people in India asking for immigration advice, which I never respond to. I almost regard those as being akin to spam, and so there are those ones. But, similarly, other ministers have had probably very similar issues." Priyanca Radhakrishnan Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver Priyanca Radhakrishnan, a former minister of ethnic communities, made her displeasure with the remarks about unsolicited emails from India clear in a social media post on 10 May. "Earlier this week, in response to a question by @willowjeanprime the Immigration Minister felt the need to single out people from one country/ethnicity in a negative light," Radhakrishnan wrote. "If you're from India, don't bother emailing her because it's automatically considered spam. So much for the National govt's all-of-government focus on strengthening the relationship between India and NZ and focus on people-to-people links." Approached by RNZ, the minister initially defended her remarks , claiming Radhakrishnan's assertion was "incorrect". "As I advised the House, I receive unsolicited emails from people overseas to my personal email address, often requesting personal immigration advice," Stanford said. "In this instance, I recalled a recent email I'd received of this nature when answering in Question Time. I did not say it is automatically considered as spam, I said 'I almost regard those as being akin to spam'. "While these people are attempting to contact me as the minister of immigration, I have no ministerial responsibility for providing non-citizens with immigration advice, nor do my officials at Immigration NZ have any responsibility. "Therefore, these emails to my personal email address are not responded to. Emails sent to my official email addresses are managed appropriately by my office." Stanford's remarks have sparked anger in India over the past two weeks, with many mainstream media in the subcontinent devoting column inches to the story. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Stanford could have expressed herself better , but meant no offence when she made comments about receiving emails from people in India. Veer Khar Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom Members of the Indian community in New Zealand have also criticised the minister for her remarks. Veer Khar, president of the New Zealand Indian Central Association, expressed concern about Stanford's comments. "We find this characterisation ill-mannered, dismissive and inappropriate," Khar wrote in a letter to the minister. "While we appreciate that ministers receive a high volume of unsolicited emails, the specific reference to Indian-origin correspondence creates an unfortunate impression of bias against a community that has long contributed positively to New Zealand's economy, culture and society," he wrote. "Your comments not only risk damaging trust in the immigration process but also send an unwelcome message to aspiring migrants and Indian-New Zealanders who seek fair and respectful engagement with the government." Ravi Bajpai Photo: Supplied Ravi Bajpai, editor of Indian community newspaper Indian Weekender, said Stanford's remarks contained two core assumptions. "First ... is the way Stanford made the reference to Indians," Bajpai said. "[She] actually doesn't need [to] typecast a particular ethnicity. "Second one is more subtle. When the immigration minister herself is engendering such stereotypes, it will rub off on officials making frontline immigration decisions. "The Indian community in general feels the real question is about implicit bias. "[But] a lot of immigration advisors I have talked to say it's not just implicit bias, it's also explicit bias against a lot of applications they deal [concerning Indians]." Bajpai said the remarks had become a hot-button issue in the community because Indian media had picked it up. "Her remarks have made headlines on all the major news website. It also coincides with Foreign Minister Winston Peters' visit to India," he said. "When you are trying to crack a [free trade] deal with India, something you haven't been able to do for about 10-15 years, does it really help for your minister to say things like that?"
RNZ News
19-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Labour asks Auditor General to consider cost burden in school lunches probe
Labour's education spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith Labour wants an inquiry by the Auditor General into the school lunch programme to go further, and has written to the watchdog requesting it consider things like the cost burden on schools. The Auditor-General's office announced plans earlier this month for an inquiry into the school lunch programme that has drawn criticism since its revamp. It will cover Ministry of Education planning, procurement and contract implementation under David Seymour's alternative model. Seymour at the time welcomed the inquiry. "I actually would like to offer [the Auditor-General] some of the lunches so he can audit them with his mouth, and I think what he's going to find is a programme that has overcome some initial hurdles to deliver great value, very good lunches at half the price of Labour's scheme," he said. Minister David Seymour eating lunch at the launch of the revamped school lunch programme. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Labour's education spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime said the investigation should include whether providers are meeting agreed standards, the programme's value for money and how complaints are being managed and standards enforced. She said she's heard from schools that have forked out hundreds of dollars without being reimbursed by the government. "I'm hearing from schools that have had to fork out hundreds of dollars without any reimbursement because of David Seymour's botch-ups, and there are many cases of food waste as poor quality lunches go uneaten." She said it's a struggle to get straight answers out of Erica Stanford and Seymour about why the programme has been "so chaotic" and what they're "actually doing to respond." "We welcome the Auditor-General's inquiry into the ongoing issues with the programme and look forward to seeing these issues addressed," Prime said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
State abuse compensation 'band-aids for bullet wounds', government told
Erica Stanford, the minister in charge of the government's redress process, says the government is allocating a significant and historic amount of money. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith The government has been told its compensation scheme for survivors of state abuse offers "band-aids for bullet wounds". In an urgent debate in parliament, Labour called on the coalition government to reconsider its contentious decision not to set up a new independent redress system. The government acknowledges it may not have come up with a perfect solution, but says its allocated an historically significant amount of money. Labour's Willow-Jean Prime requested the debate, which the Speaker allowed because it was a "significant issue". Prime kicked off the debate by quoting a survivor who said the government's redress announcement on Friday was "shameful." The government has decided against setting up a new system , which the Royal Commission of Inquiry recommended, instead deciding to put more money into the current system. The decision was also at odds with the prime minister's assurances last year that a new system would be set up. But Prime told Parliament on Tuesday the final report from the Royal Commission was clear that "survivors wanted an independent system". "Funnelling more money into systems that have harmed them in the past, is, without question, the wrong call." Erica Stanford - the minister in charge of the government's redress process - responded by saying the coalition was still allocating a significant and historic amount of money. "More than three quarters of a billion dollars, $774 million dollars as a pre-budget announcement - the single largest investment into redress in this country's history." She said it was about moving quickly for those who have been waiting for years. "The advice that I have received around creating something new and complex would have taken an extraordinarily long period of time, and would have been very expensive on the one hand." Stanford said Cabinet had to "make a call" on whether or not it went with something "highly complex, very expensive, take a long time and may not get us the outcomes that we expect". The Green Party's Kahurangi Carter dismissed that, saying survivors deserve what was promised and calling the amount of money they are getting "woefully insignificant". "It is tokenistic, it is disrespectful and it is not enough to make up for the trauma and suffering that these survivors experienced, and the generational trauma that continues today." ACT's Karen Chourr said compensation was not just about money. "It's also about knowing that our voices are being heard, that the hurt and harm that has been brought to this House, and put in black and white in a report of what has happened, that their voice mattered and counted toward making sure that governments in the future, and agencies in the future, are doing everything they possibly can to prevent that harm from happening again." NZ First's Casey Costello said the issue should not be treated as a political football. "The perfect solution does not exist because every single individual that has been harmed, that has been damaged, has their own individual story, their own individual expectations. "Is it the perfect solution? We will not know. But what we do know - rather than heckling in this house - is that we have invested $774 million dollars." But Mariameno Kapa-Kingi of Te Pāti Māori accused the coalition of continuing the legacy of abuse. "This government has offered band-aids for bullet wounds, and the minister should be ashamed. Deeply ashamed. "Just as every other complicit member of parliament in the coalition government should be to, because to reject the findings - let me just say that again - to reject the findings of the commission is to reject the truth." A Ministerial Advisory Group made up of survivors and advocates will be established in the coming months. It will provide relevant ministers with advice on the government's response, including implementing the changes. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
