[4][5] She regularly ran away from home and ended up in foster care, which she states as a reason for her interest in addressing homelessness and child poverty.

[11] In early December 2021, Chhour criticised the Labour Government's plans to introduce legislation under its Smokefree 2025 programme that would ban anyone under the age of 14 from legally purchasing tobacco for the rest of their lives.

[17] In mid April 2024, the Waitangi Tribunal summoned Chhour to provide evidence at an urgent inquiry into the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act.

In response, Crown lawyers filed judicial proceedings in the High Court seeking to block the Tribunal's summons.

In response, Treaty rights activist and lawyer Annette Sykes announced that she would appeal the High Court's decision.

[21] In early March 2024 Chhour announced that Government would be launching a pilot military-style academy for serious youth offenders in mid 2024.

The pilot boot camp would be run by Oranga Tamariki and have a rehabilitative and trauma-informed care approach as well as a military component.

[22][23] The Government's boot camp programme was criticised by Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, IHC director of advocacy Tania Thomas, Professor Joanna Kidman, Auckland youth development worker Aaron Hendry and human rights law firm Cooper Legal, who argued that boot camps did not address the causes of crime and would have an adverse impact on disadvantaged children and young people, particularly Māori and the intellectually disabled.

[24][25] In response to criticism, Chhour argued that boot camps were needed to show young offenders "there were consequences for their actions but they could benefit from a chance to turn their lives around.

[28] On 20 July 2024, Chhour and Acting Prime Minister David Seymour unveiled the Government's "Military-Style Academy Pilot" for youth offenders to the media, who were given a tour of its facilities.

[31] During an interview with ThreeNews in early August 2024, Chhour said she faced bullying and an "unsafe work environment" at Parliament due to her ministerial responsibility for the Government's contentious Section 7AA repeal and boot camp policies.

In response to the controversy, Labour and Green MPs Chris Hipkins, Kelvin Davis and Ricardo Menéndez March said that all MPs had the right to feel safe at Parliament but defended the right of opposition politicians to criticise Chhour's role in rolling out "controversial" and "harmful" government policies.