McClay Todd: Prohibition of Gang Insignia in Government Premises Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
McClay Todd: Prohibition of Gang Insignia in Government Premises Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 29 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4885. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 Since the start of the first reading of this bill the Prohibition of Gang Insignia in Government Premises Bill 2 weeks ago there has been significant interest in it around the country. I have received letters emails and phone calls of support and it is true to also say that there are those who have issue with this piece of legislation. Indeed I welcome all those who have made contact with me and I thank them for it. This has been an interesting debate both 2 weeks ago and again today. Notably it suggests to me that New Zealanders not only deserve to have a say on this issue but want to have a say on this issue. Therefore I ask the House to send it to a select committee. 
Can I say to the last speaker Julie Anne Genter that I welcome her comments and the way she put them to the House. This bill will not address all issues around gangs. Indeed I have never stood here in this Parliament and said that it will. But what I think is important is that we have the opportunity to talk about not only the significant harm that gangs do in all parts of our community where they are and where they operate but some of the reasons why so many young people are attracted to them. When this bill is sent to the Law and Order Committee I would encourage members of the Green Party—and indeed all parties of this Parliament—to come with an open mind to talk about this issue and the harm that it does not only in respect of the measures in the bill but to in some way start to address this. 
The Labour Party has said that it will vote against this bill. I would say that this is disappointing. It is disappointing from the point of view that I think it is party politics that suggests this rather than the recognition of the challenges we face around gangs and gang membership. Mr Chauvel in his speech to the House said that the law can already deal with this issue that the law can deal with it by way of trespass. One of the things that I think is most important is that we encourage New Zealanders mums and dads to care more about their children. I encourage gang members who care about their children to go to their schools to support them and to help them. I am not sure it happens anywhere near as much as it should. If it did happen more—indeed as Ms Genter has said—perhaps some of the effects of gangs upon families and the way young people are attracted to these gangs would lessen. 
What this piece of legislation says to a gang member is that if that person wants to go to a school or a kindergarten to support a child that person has a right to do so. In so doing we say they must leave their gang patch or insignia behind because this is a place of learning. It does not say to that person who wears a gang patch that they cannot go to that school. Indeed what it says is just that they cannot wear that gang insignia. A trespass notice would mean that that parent was a trespasser at that school for an ongoing period of time. This legislation will not stop New Zealanders from going to seek support from their Government or from their council or from going to a hospital or a school. It will merely say that we society put conditions around that. One of them is that patches that stand for harm in our communities will not be acceptable and therefore if you choose to wear that you will break the law. Equally these members of gangs may choose not to do it. 
I ask the Labour Party to please think deeply about this when the bill does go to the committee and come with some rational discussion around it about how we deal with the influence of gangs in this country. There are others who have said that the Labour Party Opposition is weak on crime and that this is something that it will not support. I do not want to get into discussion or debate around this today. I ask the members opposite to have an open mind to come forward to the committee to be responsible and to think about the harm that gangs do. 
Hone Harawira raised some issues outside of this House around race. I do not want to dignify his comments with a response except to say that this issue deals in the same way with all New Zealanders who put on a patch and who choose to harm others. It is not an issue of race. What I would say is that Mr Harawira is right: young Maori are harmed by gangs more than any other group in this society. Gangs attract them they pull them in they ask them to commit crimes on their behalf and then they send them to jail on their behalf. I believe we in this House have an obligation to think more seriously about this. 
I want to thank the Public Service Association for agreeing to meet with me. We have had a discussion about some of its concerns. I have agreed to work closely with it to make sure that its workers and others in the Public Service are not intimidated by gang members and that this is a piece of legislation that could work for them. 
I want to thank members of New Zealand First for their support and their courageous stand on this bill and also the ACT Party and United Future for their support. This bill will be sent to the Law and Order Committee. I would ask the committee to look at the list of gangs that are mentioned to see whether it is appropriate for them to be there to question that and to look for other organisations that should also be there. 
In conclusion before we vote gangs cause harm in our society. They ruin people’s lives they destroy families they cause misery and they cause intimidation. This bill sends a clear message to them: this House puts the rights of responsible members of our community before those of criminals. Thank you. 
A party vote was called for on the question that the Prohibition of Gang Insignia in Government Premises Bill be now read a first time.