Goldsmith PaulGANGS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (Minister of Justice): I present a legislative statement on the Gangs Legislation Amendment Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Teanau Tuiono): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: I move That the Gangs Legislation Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Justice Committee to consider the bill. At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be reported to the House by 8 July 2024.The bill gives effect to one part of the Government's hundred-day plan to restore law and order and ensure that New Zealanders are safer in their communities. This is a response to gang membership increasing by 51 percent over the past five years alongside violent crime increasing 33 percent. This Government wants to prevent the current level of violence from becoming a permanent feature of New Zealand society so we're giving police additional tools to go after the criminal gangs that inflict fear and misery on our communities.The Gangs Legislation Amendment Bill does four things. First it creates a new criminal offence prohibiting the display of gang insignia in public places. This builds on our 2013 law that prohibits the display of gang insignia in Government buildings like schools and hospitals. This Government is extending these rules to all public places. Prohibition includes gang patches and also covers items such as clothing or vehicles that have gang signs or symbols attached to them. These insignia intimidate law-abiding Kiwis and are status symbols used to encourage others particularly young people to become part of the gang. They also make members of a gang identifiable which may exacerbate inter-gang rivalries that could eventuate into gang violence. It will therefore be illegal to display gang insignia in public places punishable by fine or imprisonment. Following conviction the gang insignia used in offending is forfeited to the Crown and can be destroyed or disposed of as the court directs.The bill also creates a new dispersal power which police can use to stop gang members from gathering in public. A dispersal notice will require the group to leave an area and not associate in public for seven days. This tool will enable police to disrupt gatherings that can escalate into criminal behaviour. Gangs gather in public places in order to create fear in our communities and to intimidate law-abiding Kiwis. Time and again we're seeing criminal gangs block roads harass the public and disrupt the lives of ordinary citizens just trying to go about their business peacefully. We should not regard this as acceptable.To ensure the safety of officers Police can issue the dispersal notice at the time of the gathering or Police can decide it would be more appropriate to issue the notice at a later time. The notice will apply for the next seven days preventing the group from reconvening again in public. We recognise that there needs to be exemptions and the dispersal notice will not apply to public meetings of immediate family members or where the people need to associate for a lawful purpose such as work education or healthcare. There's also the ability to apply to the Commissioner of Police for an exemption for other lawful purposes.Thirdly the bill creates a non-consorting order. This order is issued by a court and will require specified people not to associate or communicate for three years. Crimes like the importation and sale of illegal drugs don't just happen; they require coordination and planning. Police often know exactly who these criminals are but are powerless to prevent them from planning and committing these crimes before it's too late. We believe the police should be able to act on the intelligence they have and apply to the court to stop known gang offenders from associating or communicating with one another to keep our communities safe.As with the dispersal notices our bill recognises that some association or communication may be required for lawful purposes. Exemptions are provided for immediate family and lawful purposes such as work education or healthcare. The court can also consider applications for exemptions for other lawful purposes.Finally the law gives greater weight to gang membership as an aggravating factor in sentencing. This will ensure that courts are not unduly limited in using gang membership as an aggravating factor. I expect this will lead to tougher sentences for gang members and send a strong message that gangs' unlawful activities will not be tolerated.Although these changes will impact on the rights of gang members we believe the changes are justified. In addition our human rights laws recognise that individuals' rights can be justifiably limited where this is required to achieve a sufficiently important social benefit such as the prevention of crime. New Zealanders deserve to feel safe in their homes and communities. That means we need to take action to reverse the growth of gangs and reduce their ability to engage in criminal behaviour that endangers the lives and livelihoods of law-abiding Kiwis. Gangs will no longer be able to behave as if they are above the law. I commend this bill to the House.