A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s.

On Wednesday, the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care released its final report, Whanaketia – Through Pain and Trauma, from Darkness to Light (“Whanaketia”), which profiled a previous boot camp, Whakapakari that ran from the 1990s until the mid-2000s.

“It’s really disappointing to hear the Prime Minister and Minister Stanford say publicly that the military style boot camps the Government will introduce cannot be compared to previous boot camps such as Whakapakari” Sonja Cooper, Cooper Legal’s Principal Partner says.

“Prime Minister Luxon yesterday called out a journalist for not reading the section relating to Whakapakari when questioning him about boot camps. Well Cooper Legal has read that section of the report.

“In fact, Cooper Legal acted for 100s of survivors who suffered serious abuse while placed at Whakapakari and tracked six clients’ claims towards trial.

“As part of the litigation process, we reviewed tens of thousands of pages of documentation about Whakapakari. We know that Whakapakari was based on the same ideals that this Government says boot camps are based on.

“We also know what happens when young offenders are placed on remote programmes that have been hastily put together, with staff who are not trained to deal with the complexities that these young people face.

“While the intentions behind the boot camps may seem admirable, we know that this approach does not work. Whakapakari had the best intentions when it was set up and it resulted in traumatising 100s of boys and girls. The Prime Minister and Minister Stanford have both acknowledged this.

“We as lawyers know that boot camps do not work. We know this from having worked first hand with survivors of severe abuse and neglect at Whakapakari.

“The young people that the Government intends to send to boot camps are some of our most vulnerable people. They need our support, not to spend three months at a military camp. These young people are neurodiverse, have addiction issues and often come from ostracised families.

“We need to focus on providing wraparound support services within communities for these young people to reintegrate into society and to address the harms that have cause them to offend.

“Both the Prime Minister and Minister Stanford talked about the supervision that would occur after the boot camp. This was the same at Whakapakari. Most children were sent there on Supervision with Activity Orders, which are followed by supervision orders.

“Boot camps are no different to Whakapakari and many other boot camps trialled in the 1990s and 2000s.

“If this Government is committed to recognising survivors’ experiences, the boot camps need to be shut down now, because at the moment the Government is saying one thing but doing the complete opposite” Ms Cooper concluded.

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