Little Andrew: Prohibition of Gang Insignia in Government Premises Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLittle Andrew: Prohibition of Gang Insignia in Government Premises Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 10 July 2013. Volume:692;Page:11872. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW LITTLE (Labour):It is once again my duty to rise and talk on this completely ridiculous piece of legislation the Prohibition of Gang Insignia in Government Premises Bill which ought to be an embarrassment not only to the member in the chair Mark Mitchell but in fact to the Committee.I just want to draw the Committee’s attention to a very simple remedy to the problem because here we are spending the Committee’s time taxpayers’ money looking at a piece of legislation that will deal with one iota of the problem when the rest of the problem is out there—the problem about which the Government said: “Well we have people turning up to the Government offices and some of them are wearing their gang patches. So we need to pass a law to stop them doing that.” Well you do not have to look too far past today’sNew Zealand Herald —usually a very good newspaper usually accurate in its reporting at least on general stories—and here on page 8 is a very fine photograph of the Napier District courthouse. Here we have a photo of a chap leaving the courthouse.I want to draw the Committee’s attention to a little sign on the doorway of the Napier courthouse. On the sign on the doorway it says: “No Gang Patches or Insignia”. Apparently the Napier District Court can do it but everybody else needs this House to pass a law. I do not know of any report of any problems with gangs turning up to the Napier District courthouse and causing a problem. The registrar at the District Court—probably a couple of judges too maybe even some sensible people at the Ministry of Justice maybe some sensible people at the Sensible Sentencing Trust; I do not know but maybe somebody—had this brilliant idea that they would put a sign on the door because they wanted to stop people from turning up to the Napier District courthouse in their gang patches. In fact I can report to this Committee that they are not alone.There are some other Government premises the managers of which have had the brilliant idea to deal with this nefarious problem which has burgeoned across the country of people in gang patches turning up to Government premises and they have put notices on the door. And do you know that there has not been a single report in the newspapers of good repute—sadlyTruth has now met its demise and that might say something about the reputation of that paper or at least its editor the most recent one anyway. There has never been a report in a newspaper of good repute that has reported on trouble with gang members with gang patches and insignia turning up to those public buildings.So the question has to be asked: why is it—how is it—that we have to detain all the members of this House and use the House’s very precious time to consider this piece of legislation knowing that it is confined to Government buildings? These are the very buildings whose occupants have the power—and they have demonstrated that they use it—to put up little signs saying: “No one with gang patches here”. That is unlike the proprietors of children’s playgrounds unlike those who are the custodians of beaches and other public places without any structures who will have no power to give notice even under this legislation to those who would wear their gang patches and insignia andturn up and maraud across the innocent citizens and the burghers of those places where those beaches and children’s playgrounds are.Why do we waste our time on legislation like this? This is window dressing; it is not substantial. It will not make a blind bit of difference as the good people of Whanganui found out. All they did was shift the problem somewhere else and that is what this piece of legislation will do. If this Government is serious about dealing with the problem of gangs let us see a law that deals with the gang problem. Let us see a law that gives people the ability and the power and the rights to stop gangs and their criminal enterprises in their tracks. Let us assist the police with their powers to do that. But let us not pretend that dumb legislation like this is going to make a blind bit of difference when all the evidence—the evidence on the record and in reputable publications like theNew Zealand Herald —shows us that a little notice on the door is all that is needed to deter the evil nefarious gang patch and insignia wearers from doing their dirty business.This bill is wasting our time and that is why on this point with this bill knowing that it will achieve nothing knowing that it will do nothing we will continue to oppose it and wait for this Government to do something sensible and meaningful about the real problem which is about the criminal nature of gangs and the criminal enterprises that they undertake.