Labour loves the gangs!
Labour is once again being linked with gangs, this time over the gang patch ban. During a debate in Tāmaki Makaurau, Labour candidate Peeni Henare was asked if he supported repealing the ban on wearing gang insignia in public. His answer? “Āe.” Yes.
The problem is Labour’s leadership insists that is not their position at all. Carmel Sepuloni rushed to claim Henare was “mistaken” and that the party has no intention of scrapping the law. Leader Chris Hipkins has said the same. So which is it? Was Henare going rogue, or was he saying the quiet part out loud?
This is not the first time Labour has shown sympathy for gangs. The most glaring example came when the Labour Government handed over millions of taxpayer dollars to a Mongrel Mob-connected group to run so-called “rehab” programs. The same gang that has poisoned New Zealand communities with meth was trusted to help addicts recover from it. You could not make it up.
Supporters tried to dress it up as rehabilitation and “meeting people where they are.” The reality was that one of the most notorious criminal organisations in the country was given a golden ticket, while taxpayers were left shaking their heads. The backlash was fierce, and rightly so.
Henare’s comments have put Labour back in the firing line. They talk tough on law and order when it suits them, but their track record tells another story. Funding gang-linked rehab, now flirting with repealing the patch ban. It all points in one direction.
Labour may claim otherwise, but when forced to choose between standing with communities or pandering to gangs, Labour has already shown where its loyalties lie.
Henare also committing to $1B of new funding for kaupapa Māori if elected next year.
As we learned in the 2017 & 2020 campaigns, Labour will promise anything to get elected. Once in power though ...
Basically Labour are beholden to their Māori caucus & can only form a coalition with the Green or TPM.
https://x.com/Suitandtie9999/status/1958385227149250718
I'm no fan of Labour or crimnal gangs but I fail to see how their ability to display their patches or not, will have any impact on their criminal activity.
They can still get tattos, used coded symbols instead or any number of other methods to display their membership to others.
Gang signs are banned in the US and it hasn't impacted gang activity remotely and you just end up with this sort of carry on (this is from the BBC so it must be true!!)
"at some point, the Chicago Bulls logo with the horns became a stand-in of sorts for the MS-13's devil horns symbol"
If we want to deal with the gangs we should worry about things that work (or might work), not political point scoring tokenism.