Gang members being filmed riding their motorbikes on a busy State Highway before attacking and critically injuring a motorist on Friday is "symbolic of where we are as a country" when it comes to crime, National's Mark Mitchell says.
Footage posted to YouTube at the weekend showed Tribesmen gang members riding their motorbikes into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road between Taupō and Auckland.
It was later revealed a motorist had been critically injured on the Waikato Expressway after the gang members surrounded a ute and assaulted the driver.
Appearing on AM, National Party Police spokesperson Mitchell said the incident was an "awful, violent assault".
"It's pretty symbolic of where we are as a country in terms of; just about every week we're seeing gang members take over public spaces, roads, and abusing members of the public.
"I think the general public; number one, they're feeling scared, they're intimidated and I think everyone's had enough of it."
Mitchell said gang membership had risen by more than 50 percent since 2017.
"You've seen the 501s come into New Zealand. Without a doubt, they've introduced a new level of violence, organisation networks [and] money but… we're seeing very weak political leadership from this Government and we need to see some much stronger leadership coming from the [Police] Commissioner as well."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told AM on Monday gang violence had been increasing for some time.
"I would say a bigger impact on that is actually the [501] policy Australia has of deporting those who are affiliated with gangs to New Zealand.
"We've got the greatest number of police officers on the front line that we've had and what's important is, what are those police officers doing? We've increased the number that is working on organised crime - [a] really big focus for us has been trying to remove, for instance, some of the firearms we are seeing in circulation."
Ardern said the Government was also working on Firearms Prevention Orders.
"Do we need to do more? Absolutely, not denying that.
"We're constantly keeping a balance between all of the things New Zealanders want us to make sure our justice system is doing, including just making sure we're not overstepping, as the state."
