A Mongrel Mob leader says poverty is at the heart of gang violence, and has accused the National Party leader of dog-whistle politics.
At National's Auckland regional conference yesterday, party leader Christopher Luxon promised new policies it would enact to crack down on gangs, if elected.
The plan is a response to a spike in gang violence, particularly in Auckland, that has generated concern. It includes bans on gang members gathering together or wearing gang insignia in public, and grants police new powers, including warrant-less searches for firearms.
Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom ariki Sonny Fatupaito said the plan would be a breach of human rights and would further discriminate against members' families.
He called out Luxon's speech yesterday for continuing the same policies and attitudes that had already failed Māori and Pasifika communities, and terrorised them for generations.
Militarising police forces against gangs was proven not to work, Sonny Fatupaito said, but systemic racism and racial profiling by police was an ongoing issue for Māori and Pasifika.
He believed National's proposed policy would be in direct conflict with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, and a breach under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Fatupaito said any political party serious about tackling gang issues would first tackle poverty.
Academic and gangs expert Dr Jarrod Gilbert has told RNZ he was wary of political insinuations that a specific crack-down would solve problems with gangs - particularly from opposition parties - as historically these had not created change.
The recent spike in violent incidents surrounding tensions between the Tribesmen and the Killer Beez was concerning, but spikes in gang tensions were cyclical and expected. The more constructive path was to focus on combating the actual criminal activity - rather than getting redirected by the buzz surrounding gangs, Gilbert said.
ACT: National policies could target legitimate gun owners
Meanwhile the ACT Party said it was worried legitimate firearms owners could get caught up in National's policies to clamp down on gangs.
ACT firearms law reform and justice spokeswoman Nicole McKee said that could be a problem if the two parties were forming a coalition.
"We do have some concerns that licensed firearms owners may become a target for warrant-less searches.
"We would probably need to have a discussion around the warrant-less searches: National want to be able to go fill tilt with that. That can be easily sorted with a conversation."
However, McKee said in general, National's gang policy is very similar to ACT's.
"It shows that National and ACT are on the same type of line, where we both acknowledge that we need to go hard and tough on gangs, and the soft-on-crime approach needs to stop."
RNZ
