Willow-Jean Prime: Labour's Children Spokesperson on the drop in youth reoffending

The Opposition doesn't want the Government taking all the credit for a drop in youth offending.  

The Government says the rate of serious and persistent offending from young people has dropped by more than 14% since June 2023.  

Labour's Children Spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime says it is largely because of the Circuit Breaker programme – which they started. 

She told Ryan Bridge that the Government is effectively saying the drop is due to the boot camp programmes, which have actually been an abject failure with seven of the nine youth reoffending. 

Prime says they should be more transparent that it’s the continuation and expansion of things Labour began that is contributing.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ten. Right now, the government's panning itself on the back

(00:02):
for the new youth crime data. Serious offending down fourteen
percent in two years, Northland down forty percent, Tasman thirty
six percent, Wellington twenty eight percent, in Auckland down fourteen percent.
Ram raids almost nonexistent. Karen Shaw says kids no longer reckon,
they're above the law. Willow Jene Primers, Labour's Children spokesperson,

(00:22):
good morning, Good morning, Mornina. Good to have you on
the show. Is this something to celebrate?

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Oh, it is definitely something to celebrate when we are
seeing less young people offending. But what I thought was
remarkable was that the government is claiming that this is
all down to things that they have done.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Is it not?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
No, it's not, because if you look at what they
are celebrating, they are basically saying that it is because
of programs like their boot camps, which we know have
been in abject failure with seven out of the nine
young people re What they really need to let New
Zealanders know is they have carried on programs that were

(01:07):
started under Labor, which was the circuit Breaker program. It
had an over seventy five percent success rate. They have
continued to fund that and they have expanded it. So
what their pr doesn't say is actually it was things
that Labor had introduced that is contributing to this reduction
in youth offending.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
Does it matter where an idea came from. If I've
continued funding it, that's not a success.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Well, I just think it would help if they were
more honest with New Zealanders and actually told them that
this is something that Labor had started, that they could
see the benefit, and that they had decided to continue
and to expand. But instead they are claiming that this
is a success because of things like their failed boot
camp experiment, which like I said, had seven out of
nine of the young people reoffend, and they are continuing

(01:54):
to fund significantly millions of dollars and entrenching it into
legislation when they know it doesn't work.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
What does Labor believe that in the idea of deterrent
that you know, the tough talk on crime, the penalties
for serious recidivist offending and the threat of a boot camp,
that that actually can act as a deterrent to young people,
That young people are smart enough to work out that

(02:21):
this government won't let them take the mickey.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
I think we haven't seen any evidence that suggests that
that actually is a significant contributor to it. What we
know and what they are funding are programs like Circuit Breaker,
which they have extended, which is an intensive wrap around
interventions with young people as early as possible, and that
is what is having the most success in over seventy

(02:48):
five percent success rate. So I think that is what
we need to understand is contributing to this reduction in crime.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
If you want them to take response to give you
credit for the drop, will you take responsibility for the
fact it went up so dramatically under your watch In
the first place, it.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Is clear from the data and the statistics that there
was a spike of youth crime under labor And I
think what we want credit for is that we were,
in fact trying to address that and doing something about it,
and that the programs.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
You take it in place. Do you take accountability didn't happen.
Do you take accountability time, Oh, I haven't heard it yet.
Do you take accountability for the fact that it went
up so dramatically under your watch?

Speaker 2 (03:32):
What we take accountability for is that we did something
about it, and that that that what we introduced has
been successful in this government has carried it on. I
think they should give us more credits. But we didn't
hear it yesterday in the House and we didn't see
the pr.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Hey, how'd your meeting go with Ereka Stamford? Are you
going to work together?

Speaker 2 (03:53):
So we had quite a long conversation about NCAA and
the concerns that I'm hearing from the sector. It's really
over to the minute for now to respond to those
significant concerns that are there with her proposal.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
Willow Jean Prime appreciate your time this morning. That's Labour's
children's spokesperson. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge.
Listen live to News Talks.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
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