Greens ‘Unapologetic’ At Mongrel Mob Meeting As National Cries Foul

Giles
Dexter Political reporter

Green Party co-leader
Marama Davidson is defending some of her candidates meeting
with the Mongrel Mob, saying the party will engage with all
communities.

National is crying foul at a social media
post from Mongrel Mob lifetime member Harry Tam, which shows
the Greens’ Hūhana Lyndon and Michel Mulipola, along with
Oriini Kaipara and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke from Te Pāti
Māori, at a whānau, health, and wellbeing election
hui.

National’s justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith
said the Greens and Te Pāti Māori were “prioritising”
gangs over victims.

“They profit off misery and
addiction by peddling meth in our communities and they make
victims of Kiwis up and down the country.”

Goldsmith
said National stood with victims, not the gang members who
made them victims.

“I have one simple question for
these candidates. Did you ask any of the Mongrel Mob members
you met what they did to get patched? Because their victims
know.”

But Davidson said it meeting with gangs was not
a new thing.

“We are unapologetic about making sure
that we can engage with all communities, especially
communities who are living on the margins. So we’re proud,
and we have done that year and year again,” she
said.

“And actually, those communities are the very
people who hold the solutions to being able to live good
lives, so it’s not a new thing, and we’re not apologising
for making sure that everyone has a chance to engage in
democracy and has access to politicians.”

Davidson
said the Greens also met with victims.

“We do
consistently, as we meet with people who have been harmed by
the decisions of this very government, by the policy
decisions to restrict housing support, with young people, we
meet with the people who have been harmed by this government
every single day.”

Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick
said the best way to stop the cycle of gang violence and
criminality was to understand what was driving it in the
first place.

Asked if victims of gang violence would
be upset about the visit, Swarbrick said the Greens were
trying to understand the needs of every New
Zealander.

“I completely accept your point with regard
to victims and victimisation and the need for us to end the
cycle of violence and the cycle of criminality and the cycle
of gangs in this country.”

“The way that we best do
that is that we understand what is driving that in the first
place and we stop that cycle.”

Swarbrick said there
were people “on the margins” who were swept up in cycles of
criminality and victimisation.

“They too need to be
de-radicalised, they need to be reconnected with services
that allow them to reintegrate with society.” she
said.

Posting on Instagram, Kaipara said the kaupapa
was about the health and wellbeing of the Mob
community.

“Many will raise eyebrows, throw stones,
and cast judgement over our visit, but the truth is, every
member of a gang is a member of a whānau, a whakapapa, and
a part of New Zealand society.”

Kaipara said being
present did not mean endorsing everything.

“It means
recognising that whānau do not stop being whānau because
of a patch.”

Labour’s Barbara Edmonds was asked about
the meeting on Wednesday afternoon and said each party made
their own decisions.

“Labour doesn’t have particular
rules around it, but if I can just address the fact that
gang members are part of our communities.

“I’m a local
MP where we have gangs and we have people that belong to
gangs and their families in our communities. So, I’m not
going to speak any further on that.”

She said Labour
also meets with victims of crime as well, and in response to
criticism from National that it showed Labour wouldn’t take
crime seriously and isn’t putting victims first, Edmonds
said it was “just more petty sort of politicking at a time
when actually the cost of living is the number one issue for
most people in this country.”

“Where are their
solutions?”

© Scoop Media