Goudie Sandra: Gangs and Organised Crime Bill — Second Reading 
Goudie Sandra: Gangs and Organised Crime Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:657;Page:6287] 
SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) 
: 
 I commend the Minister of Justice the Hon Simon Power for introducing the Gangs and Organised Crime Bill to the House and supporting the very very important work that our men and women in blue—the police—do controlling the escalating rate of crime committed by people belonging to gangs. I also commend the members of the Law and Order Committee for their timely and efficient progress on the bill and their considered contributions to the bill. I will name them: Shane Ardern the Hon Rick Barker Simon Bridges Dr Cam Calder Clayton Cosgrove David Garrett Melissa Lee Carmel Sepuloni Metiria Turei and Jonathan Young. It is commendable that we had such a timely process for the bill. However I am disappointed that one of the participants on the committee Clayton Cosgrove has sought to do nothing but disparage the Minister of Police in speaking to this bill because we had such a collegial response in support of the bill in that committee. The reason for that response was that the police wanted some action taken. They are fully supportive of this bill and of the tools that it gives them to be much more effective in what they do. 
When speaking about this bill people largely tend to think about gangs. They think that the bill is largely intended to curb the criminal activities of gang members. The Hon Rick Barker emphasised the fact that this bill is not just about gangs but also about organised crime or crime perpetrated by any organised group. This includes white-collar crime perpetrated by an organised group of people or an organised criminal enterprise as outlined by section 312B(1)(a)(ii) in clause 6: “a member of an organised criminal enterprise is planning participating in or committing or has planned participated in or committed criminal offences …”. The legislation is not restricted to gangs like the Mongrel Mob or other gangs; it could refer to groups of people who are not necessarily identified as a gang but are none the less a group of people organised for the purposes of perpetrating crime. So that can include white-collar groups. 
I refer to the police submission. The Police Association says that it welcomes the Gangs and Organised Crime Bill and that the changes it proposes will be of some assistance in policing New Zealand’s serious and growing gang problem. In particular the Police Association says it is important that the committee recognise that New Zealand’s gang problem is entrenched and continues to worsen both in the growing emergence of true organised crime and in the increasing prevalence of a gang culture. That is reflected in the worsening street gang problems which have been well publicised in the media. We are all very very aware of what has been happening. Everyone recognised that the changes provided by this bill are not silver bullets but they are another set of tools in the arsenal that police can use to control gang activity. 
The Police Association further said that its members estimate that there are now over 3000 patched or full members of traditional gangs in New Zealand spread across nearly 200 organisations or chapters. That is pretty significant for a small country like New Zealand. Youth street gangs and prospect numbers are hard to estimate but that number could swell considerably. New Zealand’s goal for the police should be clear and unequivocal and that is to reverse the growing gang membership and associated criminal activity. We fully support that goal. The proposals in the bill will contribute to that objective which is what the bill seeks to do. The police recognise that the somewhat more effective policing of organised criminal gang membership allowed through the changes in this bill will enable them to effect their role in bringing the growing gang problems and membership under control. 
As the Minister said the bill is necessary because in the 9 years under Labour very little was done to combat the growing gang problem. Police see this legislation as a very positive step forward in bringing about some control. It was not until the Wanganui toddler Jhia Te Tua was shot in 2007 that some action was taken. It took 11 months for legislation to be introduced to Parliament. I am very pleased to hear that there is cross-party support for this bill and that it will go through the process. I once again commend and thank the select committee for progressing this bill.