Shanks Katrina: Children Young Persons and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Shanks Katrina: Children Young Persons and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:660;Page:8781] 
KATRINA SHANKS (National) 
: 
 It is my pleasure to stand and support the Children Young Persons and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Bill in the House tonight. As chair of the Social Services Committee I can say that we had a substantial debate within the committee and many issues were raised with submitters when they came forward. Because of some of the issues changes were made to the bill. We do not always get a bill 100 percent right before it comes to a select committee. We listened to the submitters and we made changes accordingly. 
Tonight I would like to acknowledge the officials who put a lot of work into this bill. They came back many many times with many new answers for us as we dug deeper and deeper. The committee appreciates the hard work they put in. I also know that the officials worked outside their normal hours in support of this bill. 
The bill received 51 submissions. They came from the Youth Court the New Zealand Police the Law Society and many non-governmental organisations. At the select committee a huge criticism was that there was no evidence-based research to support the changes made by this bill. The fact that New Zealand has undertaken little evidence-based research concerning youth offending and the programmes is no reason not to make a change—otherwise we would be waiting forever to make a change that will make a difference in these children’s lives. Because of that the status quo is not good enough for us. We had to make changes; there was no choice. 
In an article in the 5 September 2009 issue of the  
Dominion Post 
 Judge Andrew Becroft put forward some very important facts about the youth whom he sees in his Youth Court. I will give members just some of these facts and they are pretty sobering: 85 percent of offenders appearing in the Youth Court are male; 80 percent are not at school—that is not truancy; they are entirely out of the education system—80 percent have alcohol and cannabis problems; 50 percent are Maori and in some areas that figure is up to 80 or 90 percent of the youth who appear before the Youth Court. 
Judge Becroft went on to say he sees a lot of family instability such as a dad who is long gone and a mother who is struggling. One in three kids will undergo a psychological assessment and many go on to further assessment counselling and treatment. He went on to say that no New Zealand research has been done but that based on international evidence about a quarter of teenagers who appear in the Youth Court have symptoms—sometimes obvious sometimes subtle—of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Nobody really understands how seriously damaged a lot of these kids are. Judge Andrew Becroft was saying that we have a major problem in New Zealand and one that needs to be addressed. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: And it’s too late. It’s too late when they’re in the Youth Court. 
KATRINA SHANKS 
: Labour members sit there and say it is too late. It is never the right time to give up on the children of New Zealand. This issue might have been in the too-hard basket of the previous Labour Government but this Government and this Minister will not give up on the children of New Zealand. These young people are what this bill is about. The status quo just does not work for a National Government. 
What about the purpose of the bill? Let us go right back to why the bill is before the House. A big part of the bill is about 12 and 13-year-olds appearing before the Youth Court so it is important that we have protections in place for these children. It is important also that we strengthen the Youth Court and give it more tools so that it can treat these children when they appear before it. The court has to be given tools for sentencing and measures for dealing with offending and addressing the causes that underlie offending and that is something the Labour Government did not understand. We need to address the underlying causes of offending. That is what this bill helps to do and if Labour members read the bill they would see that. 
Many submitters agreed that the bill addresses areas of high and complex need. It is aimed at increasing the methods of accountability of young offenders increasing assistance for young offenders and improving and providing tools to the Youth Court. The greatest concern of some of the submitters was the extension of the Youth Court’s jurisdiction to 12 and 13-year-olds. We must remember that we are looking at and discussing the most serious and persistent young offenders who cause significant harm to themselves to others and to their communities and for whom the present system is not sufficiently intense. 
Expanding the Youth Court’s jurisdiction to 12 and 13-year-olds charged with serious offences is important to this Government so we also had to give it more tools to deal with these offenders. These tools will involve things like longer supervision with activity orders; longer supervision with residence orders because 3 months just does not cut it; early release from supervision with residence orders; and military-style activity camps. A range of new orders will be introduced including parenting education programme orders mentoring programme orders alcohol or drug rehabilitation orders judicial monitoring intensive supervision orders and breach provisions. I notice that the Labour members are not arguing about these new tools because they are good and they strengthen the Youth Court. The big argument about the Youth Court was that it had no tools. 
We will also improve other existing orders. Measures for dealing with offending by a child or young person should as far as is practicable address the causes underlying the child’s or young person’s offending. The removal of consent to community work orders is pretty logical is it not? What offender when told: “We would like you to do a community work order but you have to agree to it.” would want to agree to that? So we will remove that consent process. There will also be split sentencing a review of orders for periods of at least 8 months social worker reports and access to reports and plans. This is pretty logical stuff. 
I want to speak more about the most controversial aspect of this bill—the military-style activity camps. Twenty-seven submitters were opposed to having military-style activity camps in the Youth Court’s jurisdiction. Military-style activity camps will cater for the most serious young offenders on Youth Court orders who require intensive 24-hour supervision a structured environment and a complete package of support to address the causes of offending. Long-term mentoring will be provided along with help with literacy and numeracy skills—something that Labour does not think we are failing in. Well I can tell members that a lot of these children do not have good literacy and numeracy skills. Most of them have dropped out of school. They are not truants—they are not even in the education system. 
There will also be programmes to address drug or alcohol problems. The programme will include a period in a military-style activity camp a structured programme in a residential environment and supported transition back into the community. There will be a focus on installing self-discipline personal responsibility and community values. Actually that is what most parents do undertake. We install self-discipline personal responsibility and community values in our children. It is unfortunate that not everybody does that in their own family or in their wider families even. If they did then maybe we would not have so many offenders now. People actually taking responsibility for their own families would be a good thing. 
Military-style activity camps may represent the last opportunity for some young offenders to turn their lives round after being dealt with in the adult criminal jurisdiction. Child Youth and Family is working with the New Zealand Defence Force and a non-governmental organisation to develop and deliver military-style activity camps. The Defence Force has proven experience in helping young people to gain important life skills self-discipline and employment through its Limited Service Volunteers programme. In fact I have recommended that to some of my constituents and they have had some great success stories. 
There will be 40 available places on military-style activity camps. We are not talking about a lot of places; we are talking about a few. The programme being introduced will differ from the previous corrective training sentence and some other military-style models used in other countries. 
This legislation is well overdue. I commend the Minister for having the courage to face some of the hard issues that confront the youth of New Zealand. It is my pleasure to support this bill tonight.