On the other hand, the PM seemed to struggle with – or did he just duck them? – questions on the same issue.
One big difference is that Chhour comfortably answered patsy questions.
Christopher Luxon was not so comfortable with questions from the Opposition.
The questions were raised by the final evaluation for the government’s military-style boot camps.
The 82-page independent report says the pilot contributed to “meaningful and positive change” for the young people involved, but the cohort was too small to draw firm conclusions.
It also highlighted a range of barriers and challenges to achieving outcomes, such as rushed implementation, challenging transitions, a lack of continuity around therapeutic support, a lack of capacity in the residential phase, and support for families began too late before the young offenders returned home.
It wouldn’t publish the overall reoffending rate, but said the majority of the MSA cohort reoffended within two months of release into the community.
The pilot programme for a cohort of the country’s most serious offenders aged between 14 and 17 started at the end of July in 2024, and finished in August 2025.
During the pilot some participants ran away, one was kicked out of the programme and another was killed in a three-vehicle crash.
Let’s look at the questions raised in Parliament.
ACT’s Laura McClure surely knew the answer when she asked Chhour what recent reports she had seen on serious and persistent youth offending.
Surprise, surprise: the Minister had seen (or should have seen) the aforementioned independent evaluation report on the Military-Style Academy (MSA) Pilot.
Chhour was eager to look on the bright side and gushed about how the report showed two-thirds of participants reduced the frequency or seriousness of their offending in the six months after the residential phase of the pilot.
Never mind there were only 11 participants – not enough for robust findings.
But Chhour had the chance to say:
I want to acknowledge these young people who have taken this opportunity to make better choices, but I also want to acknowledge all the staff who have been involved, including the mentors and social workers helping these young people. The Military-Style Academy Pilot had a real focus on the transition back into the community, and we have seen some good results.
Brace for more of the good news, folks.
Laura McClure: What else did the independent evaluation report show about the outcomes of Military-Style Academy Pilot participants?
Hon KAREN CHHOUR: Comparing the six months before the residential phase to the six months after the pilot, participants reduced their violent offending by 67 percent. To put the outcomes of this group into context, the participants in the MSA pilot were matched with a cohort of nine other young people. The MSA cohort had longer periods of non-offending than the matched cohort. The independent report shows there were wider benefits too, including involvement in education, work experience and employment; improved physical and mental health; reconnection with whānau; and stable living situations. The evidence shows that these are all important protective factors that young people need as a foundation to be a success in life.
And so on…
Then it was the PM’s turn.
The questions were tougher than those lobbed by McClure.
Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green) to the Prime Minister: Does he think it undermines the mana of the Royal Commission of Inquiry to continue with boot camps in the face of unequivocal opposition from survivors and care-experienced youth?
A yes, no or “don’t know” would suffice.
All going well, Luxon might elaborate..
But he did not answer.
Correction: he did answer, but what he said told us nothing about his view of boot camps.
Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: What I’m proud about is this Government has seen a 16 percent reduction in serious youth offending, which was completely out of control under a Labour-Greens Government. Our change to our general approach on law and order is working.
Davidson tried again and this time we learned Luxon continues to support boot camps despite the highly critical findings about the pilot.
Hon Marama Davidson: Does he stand by his statement that his boot camps are “a powerful targeted intervention”, or does he accept findings that the boot camps had insufficient preparation, therapeutic support, and individual intervention due to a lack of capacity?
Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Yes, they’re an important part of lowering serious youth offending, which is down 16 percent under this Government.
The next question was ducked in much the same way as Luxon ducked the first question.
Hon Marama Davidson: Does he accept that expanding boot camps, despite official advice saying they’re costly and ineffective, is a mistake, when community-based, trauma-informed solutions, like Ngāpuhi social services youth remand programme, are having far better outcomes?
Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Serious youth offending’s down 16 percent and the community is safer.
Luxon obviously is proud of those offending statistics.
Hon Marama Davidson: Why is it a priority to invest in millions of dollars in boot camps when care-experienced youth implore the Government to instead fund properly trained staff, better access to education and healthcare, and safe therapeutic spaces in existing residences?
Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Because this is a Government that doesn’t believe a 30 percent increase in violent crime, a 51 percent growth in gang membership, a doubling of retail crime, and a quadrupling of ram raids is what is needed. This is a Government that’s invested in restoring law and order. That’s why there are 29,000 less victims of serious violent crime, that is why serious youth offending is down 16 percent, that is why there is growth in police out on the beat, and ram raids are down 85 percent.
Yes, they are politically pleasing numbers for a prime minister.
It’s a different matter to attribute them to the $49 million the government is investing in boot camps for serious youth offenders as part of its youth justice reforms.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
Christopher Luxon was not so comfortable with questions from the Opposition.
The questions were raised by the final evaluation for the government’s military-style boot camps.
The 82-page independent report says the pilot contributed to “meaningful and positive change” for the young people involved, but the cohort was too small to draw firm conclusions.
It also highlighted a range of barriers and challenges to achieving outcomes, such as rushed implementation, challenging transitions, a lack of continuity around therapeutic support, a lack of capacity in the residential phase, and support for families began too late before the young offenders returned home.
It wouldn’t publish the overall reoffending rate, but said the majority of the MSA cohort reoffended within two months of release into the community.
The pilot programme for a cohort of the country’s most serious offenders aged between 14 and 17 started at the end of July in 2024, and finished in August 2025.
During the pilot some participants ran away, one was kicked out of the programme and another was killed in a three-vehicle crash.
Let’s look at the questions raised in Parliament.
ACT’s Laura McClure surely knew the answer when she asked Chhour what recent reports she had seen on serious and persistent youth offending.
Surprise, surprise: the Minister had seen (or should have seen) the aforementioned independent evaluation report on the Military-Style Academy (MSA) Pilot.
Chhour was eager to look on the bright side and gushed about how the report showed two-thirds of participants reduced the frequency or seriousness of their offending in the six months after the residential phase of the pilot.
Never mind there were only 11 participants – not enough for robust findings.
But Chhour had the chance to say:
I want to acknowledge these young people who have taken this opportunity to make better choices, but I also want to acknowledge all the staff who have been involved, including the mentors and social workers helping these young people. The Military-Style Academy Pilot had a real focus on the transition back into the community, and we have seen some good results.
Brace for more of the good news, folks.
Laura McClure: What else did the independent evaluation report show about the outcomes of Military-Style Academy Pilot participants?
Hon KAREN CHHOUR: Comparing the six months before the residential phase to the six months after the pilot, participants reduced their violent offending by 67 percent. To put the outcomes of this group into context, the participants in the MSA pilot were matched with a cohort of nine other young people. The MSA cohort had longer periods of non-offending than the matched cohort. The independent report shows there were wider benefits too, including involvement in education, work experience and employment; improved physical and mental health; reconnection with whānau; and stable living situations. The evidence shows that these are all important protective factors that young people need as a foundation to be a success in life.
And so on…
Then it was the PM’s turn.
The questions were tougher than those lobbed by McClure.
Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green) to the Prime Minister: Does he think it undermines the mana of the Royal Commission of Inquiry to continue with boot camps in the face of unequivocal opposition from survivors and care-experienced youth?
A yes, no or “don’t know” would suffice.
All going well, Luxon might elaborate..
But he did not answer.
Correction: he did answer, but what he said told us nothing about his view of boot camps.
Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: What I’m proud about is this Government has seen a 16 percent reduction in serious youth offending, which was completely out of control under a Labour-Greens Government. Our change to our general approach on law and order is working.
Davidson tried again and this time we learned Luxon continues to support boot camps despite the highly critical findings about the pilot.
Hon Marama Davidson: Does he stand by his statement that his boot camps are “a powerful targeted intervention”, or does he accept findings that the boot camps had insufficient preparation, therapeutic support, and individual intervention due to a lack of capacity?
Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Yes, they’re an important part of lowering serious youth offending, which is down 16 percent under this Government.
The next question was ducked in much the same way as Luxon ducked the first question.
Hon Marama Davidson: Does he accept that expanding boot camps, despite official advice saying they’re costly and ineffective, is a mistake, when community-based, trauma-informed solutions, like Ngāpuhi social services youth remand programme, are having far better outcomes?
Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Serious youth offending’s down 16 percent and the community is safer.
Luxon obviously is proud of those offending statistics.
Hon Marama Davidson: Why is it a priority to invest in millions of dollars in boot camps when care-experienced youth implore the Government to instead fund properly trained staff, better access to education and healthcare, and safe therapeutic spaces in existing residences?
Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Because this is a Government that doesn’t believe a 30 percent increase in violent crime, a 51 percent growth in gang membership, a doubling of retail crime, and a quadrupling of ram raids is what is needed. This is a Government that’s invested in restoring law and order. That’s why there are 29,000 less victims of serious violent crime, that is why serious youth offending is down 16 percent, that is why there is growth in police out on the beat, and ram raids are down 85 percent.
Yes, they are politically pleasing numbers for a prime minister.
It’s a different matter to attribute them to the $49 million the government is investing in boot camps for serious youth offenders as part of its youth justice reforms.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
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