Crime is set to be a major election issue, and Newshub can reveal Labour's losing that battle.
Despite the continuous stream of announcements trying to tackle the ram-raid problem, the latest Newshub-Reid Research poll shows a clear majority of Kiwis think the Government's failing to get on top of it.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was suited up on Sunday in Auckland to meet with the Sikh community.
He sat in to listen to their concerns and then stood to address the elephant in the room - crime.
"There will be a sharper focus on consequences and accountability for those who break the law, particularly with things like ram-raids and smash-and-grabs which we have seen far too many of recently," he said.
You can say that again - the community has had enough.
"We have seen the rise of ram-raids and concerns are for safety," one person said.
"I'm working at a gas station, my wife is also working at a gas station and sometimes, you know, the customers like that, doing the ram-raids, taking the stuff from us. We are scared," said another.
There are electoral consequences at stake.
"We'll vote somebody else but not Labour," added the community member.
The Government recently announced a swathe of new consequences for offenders.
It covered everything from new youth justice facilities to specific offences for ram-raiding.
Do Kiwis think the Government is doing enough?
"No not really enough," said one.
"It is too late. Definitely I would say they would be looking now to damage control," said another.
Hipkins on Monday acknowledged "there is certain heightened anxiety around some forms of crime at the moment, so around youth offending we've been working, on tackling that".
But the public doesn't see enough tackling taking place.
"There's always more to be done in the law and order space," Hipkins said.
In the latest Newshub-Reid Research poll we asked, is the Government doing enough to address the ram-raid problem?
Just 27.6 percent said yes, while a clear majority said no - 62.2 percent. The rest didn't know.
Asked if he thought the public has confidence in Government when it comes to crime, Hipkins responded: "Uh yes. Well, I believe they should."
"The public can have confidence that we acknowledge their concern around things like ram-raids and escalation in gang tensions and that we're doing something about it."
He will be hoping, wishing, praying that the first step to solving the problem is acknowledging you have one.
