NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Witness: People were vomiting in the toilets and bushes from too much boozing at Young Labour summer camp

Derek Cheng
By Derek Cheng
Senior Writer·NZ Herald·
15 Mar, 2018 06:07 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Prime Minister and Labour Party president want to ensure future events are safe.

An eyewitness at the Young Labour party during the Waihi summer camp says it was a "recipe for disaster", describing it as an unsupervised party where people were throwing up in toilets and in the bushes from excessive boozing.

And there was a giant walk-in fridge where anyone, including people as young as 15, could just walk in and grab any booze they wanted.

The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the public deserved to know the true nature of the event, during which a 20-year-old is alleged to have sexually assaulted four people aged between 16 and 18.

"On the Saturday night, even before dinner, people were playing goon bag roulette with the clothes line, hanging a bag of cask wine and sitting underneath it and spinning the clothes line," the man said.

"On the Sunday morning after the incidents occurred, people were vomiting in toilets and in the bushes and were not able to attend morning speeches because they were so intoxicated from the night before."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

READ MORE

• Labour Party summer camp inquiry to probe possible drug use and underage drinking
• Summer camp fallout: Labour suspends all youth events, lawyer to lead external review of party procedures
• Audrey Young: Ardern has been too forgiving
• Claire Trevett: Accidental worker bees protect Queen Jacinda
• Barry Soper: Labour scandals raise big issues
• Mike Hosking: Labour Party general secretary Andrew Kirton must be sacked over camp sexual harassment
• Kate Hawkesby: Labour are hypocrites over handling of summer camp saga

He said partying was the unofficial purpose of the weekend, where about 60 people attended, including about 20 people under 18 and as young as 15.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's been spun as a conference gone bad, but it was really a weekend-long piss up, with no supervision of young people.

"They chose that venue because it has a full-size walk-in chiller. A mountain of alcohol is absolutely correct. People could just go in and grab as much booze as they wanted. People were drinking within hours of arriving."

He said he had communicated with two of the four victims and one of them was disappointment with the way the incident was handled.

Labour leader Jacinda Ardern and party president Nigel Haworth apologised on Wednesday for how the summer camp was managed, saying the party had let down those who attended, their families, and Young Labour for burdening them with the responsibility of running the camp.

Discover more

Editorial

Editorial: Parties need safe youth events

15 Mar 04:00 PM
Opinion

Barry Soper: Gulping PM learns lesson the hard way

15 Mar 04:30 PM
New Zealand|politics

High flyer Andrew Kirton's career strikes turbulence

16 Mar 04:00 PM
New Zealand|politics

'Dismayed' Labour MP on Labour summer camp saga

19 Mar 10:23 PM

Ardern admitted the party did not do justice to the victims or the attendees, saying more support should have been offered sooner. But Haworth and Labour's general secretary Andrew Kirton have not offered to resign.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Labour president Nigel Haworth apologise for the poor handling of the Young Labour summer camp at Waihi. Photo / Greg Bowker
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Labour president Nigel Haworth apologise for the poor handling of the Young Labour summer camp at Waihi. Photo / Greg Bowker

Labour has suspended all Young Labour events and banned alcohol at party events where under 18s are present, while launching a review into procedures as well as other historic claims of sexual misconduct at party events.

Two separate allegations of historic sexual misconduct have since emerged, one involving a women that Labour has offered support to, and one in Christchurch that reportedly involves a Young Labour volunteer harassing another volunteer.

Kirton had no comment on the new allegations.

Ardern said the review would also look at the supervision of alcohol at Waihi, and whether there was any drug use.

The man said that the young people at the camp had agreed not to drink or take drugs.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"But there wasn't any supervision of any kind. It was an honour system, but there was no enforcement."

People at the camp were told about a helpline they could call, but he said mobile coverage was so limited that the helpline was practically pointless.

​"They told us on the morning of day three to send a text, because it was more likely to get through."

He said he did not witness any of the alleged offending, nor any drug use.

"I witnessed the [alleged] offender and a victim having a conversation. It seemed to turn a little bit nasty. It went from being quite a benign conversation to quite a tense situation."

He said the next day he was told someone had been sent away for drunken behaviour, but there had been no mention of possible sexual misconduct. An email from Young Labour to the victims in the days that followed was not good enough.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"There was no offer to talk to parents or support in making a police report. There was no phone call follow-up.

"It was treated as an individual thing that happened between two people, much like if it had happened at a flat party. But it wasn't a flat party. The Prime Minister attended the event, sanctioned by the Labour Party, even if it was run by Young Labour.

"It is a bit hypocritical as a party, seeing as their values are about protecting people and standing up for those who need assistance."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New ZealandUpdated

Rotorua locals have their say on city's future

19 May 07:35 PM
Premium
New ZealandUpdated

On The Up: The 'iconic' Mount Maunganui building getting 'a makeover'

19 May 07:34 PM
live
Politics

Watch: Govt to spend $600m for ‘overdue and critical’ rail upgrades

19 May 07:30 PM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Rotorua locals have their say on city's future

Rotorua locals have their say on city's future

19 May 07:35 PM

Councillors hear of 'a Rotorua success we should all be proud of'.

Premium
On The Up: The 'iconic' Mount Maunganui building getting 'a makeover'

On The Up: The 'iconic' Mount Maunganui building getting 'a makeover'

19 May 07:34 PM
Watch: Govt to spend $600m for ‘overdue and critical’ rail upgrades
live

Watch: Govt to spend $600m for ‘overdue and critical’ rail upgrades

19 May 07:30 PM
Premium
'Not an unattractive idea': PM on tax support for firms with high capital expenditure

'Not an unattractive idea': PM on tax support for firms with high capital expenditure

19 May 07:00 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP