NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

National leader Simon Bridges sees chance to unseat Stuart Nash in Napier over gangs

By Blair Voorend
Hawkes Bay Today·
2 Feb, 2020 11:52 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

National leader Simon Bridges said that Police need to be backed and offered the tools to take on the gangs. Photo / Paul Taylor

National leader Simon Bridges said that Police need to be backed and offered the tools to take on the gangs. Photo / Paul Taylor

National leader Simon Bridges says a strong National candidate will have a good chance of unseating Napier MP and Police Minister Stuart Nash as the city's gang problem deepens.

Bridges along with the rest of the National Party met in Havelock North over the weekend for their annual party caucus.

He told Hawke's Bay Today in a sit down chat on Monday that the impact of gangs on Hawke's Bay had escalated.

Even his home region of Tauranga was struggling to deal with them, he said.

Bridges said the best way to deal with the gang issue was to disrupt the system and make a real stand.

Make a beeline for the Beehive

Get weekly politics headlines with commentary from our political experts straight to your inbox.
Please email me competitions, offers and other updates. You can stop these at any time.
By signing up for this newsletter, you agree to NZME’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

READ MORE:
• Premium - Hawke's Bay mayor says balanced solution better than National's gang force strike unit plan
• Look at Jhia: Hawke's Bay's top cop's plea to warring gang members
• Premium - 'Hand in hand': Increasing gang numbers causing Hawke's Bay meth explosion: Police
• Taradale gang meeting: Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise calls for central government help

"We can't be soft, we have to disrupt the gangs, we have to make arrests and be on them every single day."

Bridges said police need to be backed and offered the tools to take on the gangs. He said a similar force is needed to the New South Wales unit known as Strike Force Raptor.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Police are on the right course in dealing with the gangs but they have told us privately that they don't feel that support and backing," he said.

"They are being told to follow a tag and release approach but these are big, fat, terrible, juicy fish actually that don't taste very good.

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Taradale shooting: Top cop says gangs could walk free if residents won't testify

24 Jan 04:06 AM
New Zealand

Taradale gang meeting: Mayor calls for central Govt help

26 Jan 06:20 AM
New Zealand

'I tried to recover my jaw off the floor': Kids as young as five wearing gang patches

27 Jan 12:28 AM
New Zealand|crime

Record $20m cocaine bust: Four jailed for container ship smuggling

04 Feb 07:22 AM

"We want to make it quite clear to these thugs that violence on the streets around family and whanau and people going about their lawful activities, there is zero tolerance for."

Official numbers recorded by Government show the number of gang members in the Eastern District has increased by 31.5 per cent since the last election.

There are now 1053 gang members in the region.

According to official numbers recorded by Government they have seen the number of gang members increase by 31.5 per cent in the Eastern District since the last election. Photo / File
According to official numbers recorded by Government they have seen the number of gang members increase by 31.5 per cent in the Eastern District since the last election. Photo / File

Bridges said as well as Strike Force Raptor there needed to be a strong focus on preventing the problem to begin with.

"It's not all about getting tougher on the issue, we need to get in and give better education and skills to not take a life in the gang, which also means changing it at the other end for those coming out of prison and doing our best to make sure they learn new skills to get away from the gangs."

He said that getting the prison numbers down is something that everyone wants but not if it makes the streets more dangerous.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"If it's a choice between fewer people in prison and less safety on the streets or more people in prison and safer streets I'll choose the latter every time."

Nash said what the Labour government had done over this term meant it could confidently say "we are the true party of law and order".

Police numbers in the Eastern District (114 extra officers on top of 423) have gone up by 27 per cent since the last election, the highest increase nationwide.

Nash said that alot of the work was done around Hawke's Bay, getting more cops on the streets, as well as exploring other avenues, outside of Police, to help the region's young people get into jobs rather than gangs.

Bridges said National will be making a strong approach for the Napier seat with a candidate to be announced soon as he feels the region isn't "getting what it deserves" from Nash.

He said they felt they can support the region better and help get people into jobs, minimise the people on the benefit and help improve the region's infrastructure, making the example of making the expressway between Hastings and Napier four lanes.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Powerball jackpot rolls over to $10m, seven players share First Division prize

28 May 08:30 AM
New Zealand

'Right behind the bus': Person hospitalised after Auckland bus accident

28 May 08:21 AM
New Zealand|crime

Forgetful pizza store robber leaves police scanner - with his DNA all over it - at the scene

28 May 08:00 AM

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
State of Origin I: Queensland v New South Wales
NRL

State of Origin I: Queensland v New South Wales

28 May 09:55 AM
Watch: Lorde treats fans to special pop-up show
Entertainment

Watch: Lorde treats fans to special pop-up show

28 May 08:42 AM
Powerball jackpot rolls over to $10m, seven players share First Division prize
New Zealand

Powerball jackpot rolls over to $10m, seven players share First Division prize

28 May 08:30 AM
'Right behind the bus': Person hospitalised after Auckland bus accident
New Zealand

'Right behind the bus': Person hospitalised after Auckland bus accident

28 May 08:21 AM
Forgetful pizza store robber leaves police scanner - with his DNA all over it - at the scene
New Zealand

Forgetful pizza store robber leaves police scanner - with his DNA all over it - at the scene

28 May 08:00 AM

Latest from New Zealand

Powerball jackpot rolls over to $10m, seven players share First Division prize

Powerball jackpot rolls over to $10m, seven players share First Division prize

28 May 08:30 AM

Check the numbers from tonight's draw to see if you are a winner.

'Right behind the bus': Person hospitalised after Auckland bus accident

'Right behind the bus': Person hospitalised after Auckland bus accident

28 May 08:21 AM
Forgetful pizza store robber leaves police scanner - with his DNA all over it - at the scene

Forgetful pizza store robber leaves police scanner - with his DNA all over it - at the scene

28 May 08:00 AM
'Anything could be going on': Concerns over relaxed barber rules

'Anything could be going on': Concerns over relaxed barber rules

28 May 07:53 AM
Explore the hidden gems of NSW
sponsored

Explore the hidden gems of NSW

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search