Robertson Grant: Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill — In Committee 
Robertson Grant: Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:653;Page:2086] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) 
: 
 At the outset as we move into the Committee stage of the Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill I once again reiterate that Labour opposes this bill. But I acknowledge Chester Borrows the MP for Whanganui for bringing this bill to the House. We know that the bill had its genesis in discussions in Wanganui about the problem with gangs and I respect the member for having brought this bill to Parliament so that it can be debated and discussed. However— 
Hon Tau Henare 
: But! 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: —however—there is a serious problem I believe with this bill. It is flawed because it wants to wish away the problem of gangs in Wanganui rather than deal with the issues that lie behind the problem. We have a serious problem with crime committed by gangs and with violence in our towns and cities and a serious response to those issues is needed. But I am sorry to say that this bill is a cosmetic response to those issues—literally in many ways. It focuses on what gangs wear rather than on what gangs do and that is the wrong approach to be taking. 
We have to recognise that people in Wanganui have been dealing with difficult issues around gangs over recent times but unfortunately they are being led astray by this bill. It is not the patches that commit the crimes; it is the gang members who commit the crimes and perpetrate the violence. We need to work on the causes of crime. It is disappointing in many ways that we are not looking at some of the deeper issues around crime. 
In the Wanganui police district in 2007 there were about a thousand domestic violence incidents and our attention should be focusing on the causes of those crimes that are happening there. Another major flaw in this bill is that it is piecemeal and ad hoc. It is a well-known fact among the legal community that we should not make criminal law on a region-by-region basis because quite simply all that will do is move problems around rather than deal with them. It is almost like watching an episode of  
The 
Dukes of Hazzard 
 or something where people move to the county line to get away from a particular law. That is not the kind of criminal law—and Mr Bridges knows this from his experience—that we should have in New Zealand. It makes for a piecemeal and ad hoc approach and it makes for a very difficult law to enforce. 
We also know that this bill has significant issues in terms of definition. What is gang insignia? What is significant about the colours that gangs wear? Are they a significant part of their being and their role? Of course we know that it would be completely impossible to ban a colour—to ban the colour red or the colour blue—from the city of Wanganui yet we are trying in this bill to find a way to define insignia. I do not think that that will be able to be enforced in a way that can be meaningful. 
We also know that the bill enables particular public places in the Wanganui area to be identified as being areas where gang insignia is not allowed to be worn. That is of concern to members on this side of the Chamber because we know that the areas that will be targeted will be the central city areas—the areas where the Wanganui City Council would rather it could put the problem of gangs out of sight and out of mind. The areas that will not be targeted are where there are problems with gang violence—places like Castlecliff Tawhero and other such places. We know that this approach will simply enable the problem to be shifted out of the central city out of the minds of the people of the Wanganui District Council and unfortunately into the lives of people in those areas. 
We also know that this bill was opposed on its first reading by the ACT Party. That was an interesting position to take— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: What did Rodney say? 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Rodney Hide actually had some very interesting things to say I tell Mr Mallard and I will take the opportunity to quote him from his April 2008 speech. He said “I am so pleased that Mr Chester Borrows has relieved me of the obligation of voting for this shocking Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill. I said that the ACT Party would vote for the bill to go to a select committee. We could never vote for its third reading”. 
Mr Hide made some very good points in that speech about the fact that the concern we have about gangs is not about what they wear; it is about what they do. But Mr Hide has subsequently decided that his position has changed on the bill and he said this on Television New Zealand’s  
Back Benches 
 show. His position has changed as a result of a deal over the “three strikes” bill. Once upon a time the ACT Party was dealing with this issue on principle but now it has moved on and is prepared to trade away those principles—about freedoms and rights—to be able to get its “three strikes” bill through.