Katene Rahui: Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill — Third Reading 
Katene Rahui: Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:654;Page:2956] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 While we have been gathered today in this Chamber in Murupara they laid to rest Percy Marunui Murphy Ngati Manawa’s last remaining 28th Maori Battalion warrior and New Zealand’s first Maori mayor. I am told he was an honourable man a man who enlisted in the Maori Battalion as a young 16-year-old and lived a long and distinguished life of service to the people of Ngati Hui Ngati Manawa Murupara and the wider Waiariki region. My colleague Te Ururoa Flavell is there at the moment paying his respects. As they held the final poroporoaki at Rangitahi Marae Te Ururoa Flavell told me that he thought back to another tangi a few months ago. That tangi was for a young man a 16-year-old who lost his life to war. But it was not a war on offshore lands; it was a war at home in which tomahawks axes and knives became the weapons of final destruction. It was a war in which Jordan Herewini was simply the innocent party in a rumble between two rival gangs. He was the tragic casualty of a turf war that escalated into a violent confrontation on Murupara streets.  
Those two men must be on our minds as we look at the Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill to lessen the threat of gangs in the specific location of Wanganui district. Their memory deserves to be honoured by a future that values peace where children are free to walk without fear and where justice prevails and whanau ora reigns. 
One might think that the devastation created by the after-effects of gang violence in Murupara Wanganui or Invercargill might lead us the Maori Party to support any legislation that seeks to suppress gangs. We would not be out on a limb if we did so. The media have been salivating with calls for retribution New Zealanders are calling for longer sentences of imprisonment and the Mayor of Wanganui has launched into daily attack mode describing gangs as evil and their lives as ones of petty terrorism violence and hatred. 
We in the Maori Party as with other members of this House including Mr Garrett do not support the growth of gang membership. We oppose any gang activity that results in criminal acts or disorderly behaviour and intimidation but this is not an unusual position to take. The Maori Party opposes any activity that results in criminal acts or disorderly behaviour and intimidation whether it be gang related white-collar crime related or from an individual on the street. But our ultimate aspiration is not to create a society in which revenge and retribution are the only tools of trade. Our ambition is to support a restorative justice system where agencies work with whanau on issues affecting them and where the collective goal is to achieve community peace. We are willing and open towards choices that veer on the side of opportunity and inclusion—choices that promote tolerance not intolerance; choices that speak about another kind of justice. 
This bill does not meet a definition of justice that we see in treatment that is morally right and fair. The justice practised in this bill is punitive: blame and retribution become the norm and warrants for arrest and punishment are put forward as the model. This bill puts in place the power for the Wanganui District Council to create its own territorial battleground. If the bill scrapes through tonight Mayor Michael Laws will be able to get busy scheming up by-laws to designate specified places where the prohibition will come into effect and more by-laws on top of those to identify any organisation association or group as a gang. But that is only part of the package. Once the by-laws are through any person who wears or displays gang insignia including tattoos in the designated space— 
David Garrett 
: Tattoos are out. 
RAHUI KATENE 
: Tattoos are out? 
David Garrett 
: Tattoos are out. 
RAHUI KATENE 
: —that is very clever—will be liable to a fine of up to $5000. People will be committing an offence because of the clothes they wear. There is no place in this bill for a fresh start—for rehabilitation and restoration. 
We do not support solutions that are predicated on exclusion and hate. We believe that community peace can be achieved and that people can be held accountable and face the consequences of their crime while also being supported towards making amends. I am told that shortly after the death of Jordan Herewini Ngati Manawa took the lead in encouraging debate about the kaupapa of utu—that is the behaviour of revenge and reprisal. It was their belief that the mantle and tikanga of Ngati Manawa had more meaningful behaviours that could be called on in a time of crisis. They spoke of tatau pounamu the ancient tikanga of lasting peace. Adherence to tatau pounamu would result in a guarantee of safety for all people and their property. They spoke of whakawhanaungatanga the call for positive relationships with whanau hapu and iwi—with one another. They honoured whakapapa the blood ties that linked them all and they considered other processes that could be called on when there was any threat to the tapu of the tatau pounamu. 
I was really enthusiastic about the type of discussion that was taking place amongst Ngati Manawa but I hasten to suggest that they are not the only ones who are interested in a different kind of justice. In the wake of grief following the accidental shooting of Halatau Naitoko earlier this year the principles of fakalelei came to the fore. Fakalelei is the process of reconciliation in Tongan culture. It may be seen in the family of the offender relatives and supporters visiting the family of the victim and his or her relatives and supporters to engage in a process of reconciliation that leads to understanding and healing. 
A wealth of ideas might come through talking with Kim Workman of Rethinking Crime and Punishment. In his resource  
Looking Back—Looking Beyond—Gang Strategies in the Wider Context 
 Kim promotes community engagement with gangs as being essential. Within that he believes a multi-stranded strategy is likely to be the most effective. It is his belief that one of the most effective ways of changing gang behaviour is to identify within the gangs those groups or individuals who want to change for the better and to provide them with the opportunities and resources to do so. 
I recognise that concepts such as forgiveness restoration healing and peace are not nearly as likely to achieve the same attention as punchy headlines that talk tough about locking up gangs and sending thugs out to exile. But we have to move past the talk of harassment vigilante action and angry outbursts. We need to reconsider the fuller meaning of justice as being essentially in line with human rights and to invest in policy and practice that treats all people with dignity and respect. There is no dispute that violent offending stand-over tactics criminal assaults and intimidation have no place in our society. But what we do dispute is the appropriate way of responding to such behaviour. 
This bill in targeting a particular group of citizens will do little to habilitate those who need help in order to help themselves. It does nothing to address youth gangs. It fails to provide tangible alternatives to gang life. It is inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. The sections on freedom of association and freedom of expression damage any credibility we might consider we in this country have on human rights issues. It is top-heavy in enabling an inappropriate use of by-law powers. But most of all we have no confidence or reason to believe that prohibitions work. What does work is community debate and strategic action to address the issues of public safety and to put in place strategies that will work in confronting family and community violence. We will not support this bill and we are greatly saddened that such proposals which emerge from a climate of distrust and anger are now taking up the air time of this House.