Police Minister Poto Williams has accused the organiser of a controversial drug rehab programme of glamourising gang life.
The Government is providing $2.75 million to drug rehabilitation program Kahukura, in the central Hawke's Bay, but the organisation running it holds close links to the Mongrel Mob.
Hard 2Reach director Harry Tam this morning told Q+A that the programme works because it is organised by people with gang connections and not traditional care providers.
“Because we often assume that you can just rock on up and say, ‘Hey bro, I want to put you through rehab,’ and it'll be, ‘Piss off.’ But if it's somebody that they can trust that comes in there and have the conversations, you'll be amazed what comes out," Tam said.
"People want change, but they don't know how to change."
Harry Tam, one of the people behind the Kahukura drug rehab programme, says tackling addiction in gangs will only come if members trust those trying to help them. (Source: Other)
Williams criticised Tam immediately after the interview, saying the “message he was giving was quite the opposite”.
“It sounded like a recruitment drive for the gangs,” she said.
She added that the Government is “not funding the gangs”, but a “programme that’s shown to work”.
"I wonder, how does anyone – be it mobsters, bureaucrats, journalists – know where your loyalty lies? Well, I think my loyalty lies in being a good New Zealander,” Tam said.
“It seems like Jacinda [Ardern] seems to trust me. Why wouldn't you?”
Organisers say decades of failed policies show it’s time to try something new in dealing with gangs.
“We demonise them, right? And then we've got reason to hate them. But when they try to do something for themselves, we're going to bash them again anyway,” Tam said.
The 10-week marae-based program will be monitored by several Government ministries and will be externally evaluated.
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