Kerre Woodham: Gangs are not the victims here

As you have heard in our news, a hikoi has begun from Northland to Parliament to oppose National and ACT’s gang policies and to highlight the negative impact those policies could have on the Whanau of gang members.  

The hikoi is also stopping off at marae and gang houses along the way to encourage people to vote (presumably not for National or ACT). The policies the hikoi organisers are concerned about include National’s proposal to make gang membership an aggravating factor at sentencing, with the intention of gang members facing tougher consequences for their crimes. The banning of gang patches in public places, boosting police numbers to enable warrantless searches, preventing some gang members from communicating and restricting public meetings. ACT wants to introduce gang control orders to crack down on gang members and increase the power police have to seize assets of members found with illegal firearms.  

The organiser of the hikoi, Matilda Kahotea, says she feels the policies are ill informed and that gang whanau want to be included in solutions that are made for them. They have no idea about how we live, she said, what actually we have to offer within our healing spaces for our people. She says family connections are a lifeline. We are already feeling that the men are getting incarcerated away and our families and our mothers and their kids are being left to tend to themselves.  

Quite a bit to unpack in there. 

I get you feel aggrieved and misunderstood, and nobody really understands how you operate and that not all gang associates are bad people. Sure, fine. But the passive our men are getting incarcerated away, as though they're being spirited off while quietly toiling in the field or working away at their inside office on their accounts or whatever it is they're doing, as if they're being plucked for no reason at all and being spirited away to be incarcerated is complete and utter bollocks. Under this regime, it's actually quite difficult to get put in the slammer. And Matilda, to be quite frank, a little more light incarceration for gang members would be a bloody good thing, in my opinion.   

Here are some headlines. The number of gang members breaching their home detention conditions has increased 60 percent in six years, nearly one in three breaches now involves a gang member.

OK, so those are numbers and statistics, here are some real people.

Who are these gang members? Thank you for asking. A teen, a mongrel mob member who broke into the home of a pregnant woman and indecently assaulted her, was sentenced to home detention. Stevie Taunoa thanked the judge after receiving the home detention sentence, then walked from the dock and yelled, cracked it.   

A 22-year-old mongrel mob member was on bail when he tried to kill a woman in her home after she refused to give him a cigarette. K-Cyn Nathan became angry when he asked his neighbour for a cigarette and she declined. He stabbed her 13 times to the head and neck, 10 times to the chest and limbs. He kicked her in the throat and stamped on her face four times. She required emergency surgery, spent several days in intensive care and suffered permanent injury. After the attack, Nathan returned to his Kainga Ora home and told a friend I had just popped a bitch.   

Makaere Puata Chaney, a patched Head Hunter, was on electronic bail for his part in a gang shooting when he murdered his former partner and her father in their home. Nui Rangirangi was on electronically monitored bail when he stabbed a Killer Bees member in the head in a dispute over 50 bucks. Oh, and if anyone knows where Naya Wharaekura is, he's wanted for murder. He's gone walkabout after being given electronically monitored bail. So could you please, if you know where he is, let the police know? Goes without saying, don't approach him.   

I could go on for the entire hour. These are just a couple from this year. There are many, many more. If you want your men to be around raising their babies and looking after their women, don't commit crime. It's really easy. Millions of New Zealanders, Māori, Pakeha, Pacifica, Indian, Chinese, all ethnicities, all New Zealanders, millions of them, never been to prison. Will never look like going to prison. Have never stabbed somebody 23 times in the head, neck and body because they were declined to cigarette. Never, not once. Millions of New Zealanders have not been incarcerated, of all ethnicities, because they don't commit crime. You want your men around? You tell them don't shoot people, don't stab people, don't sexually assault people, don't manufacture and sell drugs.

You need to get the message through Matilda, you are not the victims here. The people who are dead or who are left with permanent injuries are. 

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