Simon Bridges makes law and order announcement back in November 2019.
National's new policies on gangs would split up families, the president of the Mongrel Mob's Ōpōtiki chapter says.
Barney Hunuhunu has said "good luck" to National leader Simon Bridges, while a high-ranking Mongrel Mob member from Tauranga has requested a meeting with the local MP.
Bridges launched the party's newlaw and order discussion document on Wednesday.
It proposes banning gang members from hanging out with other gang members.
It also proposes setting up a specialised police unit in New Zealand to check for liquor licences if booze was served at a gang pad, inspect tax records for welfare fraud, take away drivers' licences if traffic fines were unpaid, and use council rules to shut down gang clubhouses for shoddy workmanship or unconsented work.
Mongrel Mob Ōpōtiki members prepare dinner at a marae with president Barney Hunuhunu (second from right). Photo / File
National also wants a ban on gang patches from public places, revoking parole for gang members who return to gangs on release, creating new sentences for violent gang crime and greater police powers to search the homes and cars of gang members.
"The Government I lead will harass and disrupt gangs every single day I am Prime Minister, with the single-minded goal of eliminating them," Bridges said.
Barney Hunuhunu has led the Mighty Mongrel Mob Ōpōtiki chapter since 2008 and said all of National's gang-related proposals were concerning.
"The bottom line is he wants to get rid of gangs themselves, which would take longer than his lifetime. Good luck to him."
He said in many cases multiple members of the same family were part of the same chapter or wider gang.
"A gang member today is often a son, a moko - they're whānau of others in our crew. Are we not allowed to spend time with our own family members? Our friends have married into our families."
He said his gang was moving away from its "old culture" for the sake of member's children.
These measures have included weekend wānanga to stop methamphetamine use in the chapter.
Mongrel Mob Ōpōtiki chapter member does dishes at a marae. Photo / File
"When they [children] step into our shoes, we want them to wear them better."
However, Hunuhunu said National's proposals to stop gang members' social welfare support would ultimately hurt families supported by gang members.
"Me, I'm just a seasonal worker. So two times a year I am not in work. I have a benefit to feed my family and pay the bills. So for me to not have that, would be punishing them for a couple of months a year. Yet I still pay taxes and all of that."
He said banning patches in public places was "stereotyping" members.
Mongrel Mob Ōpōtiki chapter member. Photo / File
"They need to know the person before they judge them, not the patch."
He also questioned how enforcement agencies would identify gang members under National's suggested laws, especially if they outlawed patches.
"We have a few gangs, some bad, some good. How is he going to identify them?"
Hunuhunu said blocking parole for those who return to gangs was also a worrying proposal.
"Often if you are not in a gang, you are picked on in jail. So that's stopping people from mixing with those who looked after them in jail when they get out."
National Party leader Simon Bridges. Photo / File
Gary Molony, a high-ranking member of the Mongrel Mob's Tauranga chapter, told Radio New Zealand he wanted to meet Bridges to tell him his plans won't work.
Molony also met with Bridges earlier this year to discuss his stance on gangs.
Figures released by Police Minister Stuart Nash earlier this year showed one in five of New Zealand's patched gang members live in the Bay of Plenty.
The total number of patched gang members in the country had increased by 26 per cent since October 2017.
Bay gang member numbers rose from 1058 in 2017, to 1380 to the end of August this year.
Gangs
National's proposals raise human rights issues including freedom of movement, freedom of association, freedom of expression, the presumption of innocence and the right to be free from unreasonable search.
Waikato University psychology and crime senior lecturer Dr ArmonTamatea told the Rotorua Daily Post that National's focus on gangs failed to consider the large numbers of offenders who were not gang-connected.
"The approach is clearly militant."
Waikato University psychology and crime senior lecturer Dr Armon Tamatea. Photo / File
He said he was "no apologist to gangs" but felt National's policy would promote marginality, "which is often a large reason why people join gangs in the first place."
"I think cosmetically this approach will appeal to people who have black and white views of gangs, but this can also create more problems, such as gangs going underground."
He said National's policy would not help address related issues such as poverty, racial marginalisation, health inequities, and suicide.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shunned National's plans today.
"Our police already do incredible work... We already have organised crime units, we have specialists within New Zealand police on the issue of gangs."
She said of the 1800 new police officers this parliamentary term, 700 were tasked with tackling organised crime and gangs.
