Mackey Moana: Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill — In Committee 
Mackey Moana: Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill — In Committee 
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MOANA MACKEY (Labour) 
: 
 There is no need to look around before giving the call Mr Chair; no one else is jumping to his or her feet. Mr Quinn over there has been very vocal but apparently is not confident enough to stand up and give a speech in this Chamber and actually put his words on the record. 
That was a very very interesting speech from Mr Boscawen. It was basically the exact opposite of the speech that his colleague David Garrett gave on the purpose clause of the Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill. Mr Garrett said that this was a bad bill and it would not do anything. 
Paul Quinn 
: He is supporting it. He said he was voting for it. 
MOANA MACKEY 
: He did not actually say in his speech that he was supporting it. We had to ask him afterwards whether he meant he was supporting it. He said yes but members should watch this space. Mr Garrett pointed out how bad this bill was. For Mr Boscawen to now come to the Chamber and say that ACT thoroughly supports this bill and would not be voting for it if it did not totally support it very much contradicts what his colleague said. I suggest that maybe they need to talk to each other a little more before they come to the Chamber and give their position to the Committee. They have shown the complete inner turmoil within the ACT Party about this legislation. The five ACT MPs in this Chamber cannot even get it right so how will they get it right amongst their members across the country? We know that the members across the country are writing to the five ACT Party members and telling them that they do not want them to vote for this bill and that they will leave the ACT Party if they vote for it. 
I will respond to some questions put by my Green colleague Metiria Turei about Labour’s position on this legislation. I apologise for perhaps not being clear and not clearly outlining our position. Labour will not be supporting the amendments put up by Ms Turei and Mr Borrows for the reasons outlined in the commentary on the bill: “We are concerned that this might cause an increase in the use of tattoos by gang members to intimidate the public. We do not consider that every tattoo should be covered by this legislation; it should capture only those that denote membership of affiliation with or support for a gang.” We think this is a stupid bill and we will not be voting for it. 
The Labour members of the Law and Order Committee worked constructively and worked very hard to try to make a very bad bill as good as it could be. The people of Wanganui feel very strongly about this bill. It went to a select committee. We all have an obligation to work as hard as we can at the select committee which of course is where a lot of real work takes place and where a lot of the silly antics that we see all the time on TV do not happen. We feel that if we are going to ban gang insignia then we really cannot leave out tattoos otherwise that would tell someone to take off their T-shirt and get a facial tattoo because a tattoo is the one type of gang insignia that is not covered by this bill. We stand by that. 
We do not think this bill will work at all. We do not think it should pass. We know now that Mr John Boscawen thinks that this bill is great that the ACT Party should support it and that it fits in. I am sorry that I called his party “libertarian”; I meant “liberal”. It was a slip of the tongue although I have heard many ACT Party members call themselves libertarians but that is another issue. We know on the record that John Boscawen absolutely thinks this is a great bill. He thinks it is wonderful and fantastic. He now needs to have a conversation with his colleague Mr Garrett who said exactly the opposite about this legislation. Mr Garrett of course was the star law and order candidate— 
Paul Quinn 
: You said that before. 
MOANA MACKEY 
: I tell Mr Quinn to take a call. He should stop sitting there chipping away. He should tell his whips that he wants to take a call. He should stand up and say something rather than just sitting there and yelling at everyone. 
Mr Garrett has just come to the Chamber to talk to Mr Boscawen. They can have a little korero—a tête-à-tête kanohi ki te kanohi—over there and actually find out what the ACT Party’s position is. 
I stood to respond to the question raised by Metiria Turei. The answer is no. Labour members will not be supporting either amendment but more important we absolutely will not be supporting this bill. We do not think that it should go ahead. We think that if every member of this House was allowed to vote with his or her conscience was allowed to vote the way that he or she believes and was not being mustered and forced to vote for it like the ACT Party is then this very bad bill would not pass. 
The passing of this legislation will not make anyone safer. Mr Borrows raised the issue of a young man who was murdered for wearing a red T-shirt. Of course as Ms Turei pointed out in her speech this bill may make the situation worse. There may be more people out there wearing red T-shirts because they cannot wear gang insignia. How will people who want to go out and cause those people harm know whether the person wearing a red T-shirt is a gang member who cannot wear his or her insignia or is just someone wearing a red T-shirt? We may see more of these senseless and tragic accidents. 
Meanwhile this bill is a smokescreen for a Government that is not doing anything about gangs. It wants to be able to say: “We passed this bill. Is that not a great thing?”. But it is not passing the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Bill which is languishing on the Order Paper. It is not doing anything else that will make a difference in the battle against gangs. This bill is nothing but a smokescreen and I reiterate that Labour will be opposing it. Who knows what ACT is doing?