The Government is moving forward with its crackdown on gangs, including a law that will ban gang patches in public spaces – but this isn’t the first time authorities have waged war on gang insignia.
A version of this story was first published in October 2023.
As well as the ban on gang patches, the new legislation will give police greater powers to stop gangs from gathering.
Police will be able to issue dispersal notices, meaning gang members must leave an area immediately and not associate with each other for seven days. Courts will also be able to issue orders stopping specified gang members from associating or communicating with each other for up to three years.
But the ban on gang patches in public has been a focal point of National’s policy ever since it campaigned on the issue leading up to last year’s election.
Gang patches are already banned in schools, hospitals, courts and other premises managed by either central or local government.
The Government's plan to extend this isn’t the first time authorities have dabbled in banning patches from all public spaces.
Whanganui District Council also passed a bylaw in 2009 which prohibited gang insignia in the district.
A response to violent gang clashes
The mayor at the time, Michael Laws, said the bylaw was a response to increasing gang tensions in the area — mostly between the Mongrel Mob, Hells Angels and Black Power.
A 2007 referendum showed most voters in Whanganui supported a ban on gang patches, with 65% of people in favour of the move.
A bill was introduced in Parliament that year, proposing to give Whanganui District Council the power to ban gang insignia in specified areas.
The Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Act eventually passed in 2009.
Labour, the Green Party, the Māori Party and Progressive Party all opposed the bill in its final reading, as did two of ACT’s MPs, Heather Roy and Roger Douglas.
ACT’s three other MPs — Rodney Hide, David Garrett and John Boscawen — voted for the bill, which proved crucial, given it only passed by 62 votes to 59.
First arrest in September 2009
Whanganui District Council passed its bylaw in July 2009. It meant people could be fined up to $2000 for wearing gang insignia in public.
The ban on gang patches in public then came into effect on September 1, with police making their first arrest under the bylaw that same day. A 21-year-old was stopped for speeding and arrested for wearing a gang patch.
There were 13 prosecutions for wearing gang insignia in the first nine months of the bylaw.
Hells Angels seek judicial review
A year after the council passed its bylaw, the Hells Angels sought a judicial review of the ban, saying the bylaw was invalid.
Justice Denis Clifford agreed.
His High Court judgment found the bylaw didn’t specify which public spaces the ban applied to, making it invalid under national law.
Govt to attempt wider ban on gang patches
Now, the Government is rolling out a new raft of measures against gangs.
Minister of Police Mark Mitchell said New Zealanders deserved to feel safe in their homes and public places.
“For too long, gangs have been allowed to behave as if they are above the law," he said. "There is no tolerance for this behaviour and these new laws will support police to take action against it.”
Coalition partner ACT welcomed the proposed changes, the party's justice spokesperson Todd Stephenson said.
"After five years of Labour cuddling criminals and ignoring victims, it’s time for gangs to see consequences for their actions," he said.
Elsewhere, reaction to the proposed legislation has been mixed.
Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said front line police were already stretched in dealing with criminal behaviour, and that being the "wardrobe police" was not the best use of their time.
Associate Law Professor Carrie Leonetti said the Government's legislation was modelled on controversial laws passed in Western Australia.
"The bottom line is that there is no evidence that Western Australia’s anti-insignia and dispersal law has done anything to reduce gang-related crime, so I’m sceptical of the decision to model it anyway."
Senior Mongrel Mob member Harry Tam said last year such policies won’t address the root causes of gang violence.
He told Breakfast in June that “we can’t actually arrest our way out of this problem”.
"This problem has been ongoing for decades, and I haven't seen a policy that actually addresses the causes of gang membership."
SHARE ME