So yesterday Christopher Luxon demanded that Poto Williams go from her job as Minister of Police due to the current level of gang crime.
Imagine the scene - the gang pad at the Dead Possums Motorcycle Club as they contemplate the day’s nefarious activities.
Chief lieutenant Keg says “look we’ve got a bad rep why don’t we do something about it, let’s go make lunch for hungry kids down at the community centre”. They all grunt excitedly and one says “after that we’ll give the tamariki a talk about staying in school”. They cheer again.
Just then Olaf the chapter chief says “hang on boys forget that, I just read that Labour are in government so you know what that means?”
Silence.
“If means instead we’ll go and do a drive by shooting at our rival’s the Buzzy Bees and then sell P down at the school instead - that’ll teach Jacinda Ardern for increasing the minimum wage.”
There is no “soft on crime” from Labour, it is a phrase used by National to brain wash supporters into thinking that:
a) A lift in gang crime has anything to do with legislative or funding decisions the Labour party has made.
b) They would be any better, despite all previous evidence.
I’m sure many of us remember John Key stating how their priority was going to be cracking down on gangs and P in 2008.
"Today I'm sending a warning to every single P dealer, every P manufacturer and every gang involved in the P trade: National will not put up with your criminal activity."
Mr Key said National in government would make targeting and undermining criminal gangs a main priority for police and would give courts significant new powers to fight gangs.
Over the next nine years nothing really changed except police funding was reduced, police numbers declined and there was some fairly unscientific rationale used for a bunch of people to get wealthy cleaning up P houses. Surprisingly Gangs and P still existed.
So what has Labour changed?
Well they have increased police funding and police numbers, doubled funding to deal with organized crime, increased the penalty for firearms, commenced a gun register, and that is about it. Not seeing any softness on crime there.
It has been shown around the world that high imprisonment rates are not the answer, if they were a country like the US with barbaric levels of incarceration would be crime free. No, increasing prison terms seems to be more about pandering to the mob from talkback radio than actually addressing the problem.
This government has indicated it wants to reduce the prison population, which is surely a good thing. I don’t believe that anyone has shown any link at all between that program and the rise in gang crime filling our media.
We regularly see major drug and/or gang busts, complex police operations; our police seem to be doing a fine job.
A bloody good job actually, I think our police are among the best in the world – it is a shame that the National and ACT parties constantly look to undermine them and criticize them over operational matters which are their domain and not the domain of the Minister.
I’m surprised we haven’t heard them call for Strikeforce Raptor again yet. In a phrase no one ever expected to say or hear – “where is Simon Bridges when you need him?”
Chris Bishop makes a good deputy junkyard dog chasing after every car but unfortunately he seems to have no ability to tell whether a car is moving or not and spends a lot of time plowing head first into parked cars while barking “look at me”. Can’t be doing good things for his brain long term.
What is clear from the attacks on Poto Williams, and Nanaia Mahuta in her portfolios, is how much National Party MPs, and therefore presumably their supporters, like to attack female MPs and better yet female MPs that are brown.
The use of racism in the National Party is hardly something new be it warning of Polynesians taking jobs, support for the Springbok tour, Iwi vs Kiwis, Orewa speeches, or scare mongering over co-governance. They have found fertile ground there in the past and seem to find it impossible to resist the temptation of returning to those happy hunting fields.
It is not Christopher Luxon’s fault that he has inherited a caucus whiter than a photo of Nicola Willis and her family in matching pajamas. Sure they had an opportunity with the Tauranga by election to select a candidate that wasn’t a wealthy white businessman, but it doesn’t pay to rush these things with actions.
They have at least set up a mentoring scheme for new Maori MPs entering their caucus, “just in case”, run by Paul Goldsmith. When it comes to inequality and deprivation look on the bright side chaps at least you get access to “Matua Paul’s glass half full guide to colonialism”. Mmm – blue flavoured.
Crime is bad, as ever, and is an emotive issue; no one wants to be the victim of a burglary or a car theft or see it happening in his or her community. Throw in some inter gang warfare using guns and there are plenty of headlines to be had.
But there is nothing coming from National at all, other than calling Labour “soft on crime”. While clearly many of their supporters get aroused by crime and punishment nothing suggests that National themselves have been taking the little blue pills that are apparently needed.
I can’t see anything to suggest this spike in crime has been caused by the actions of the Labour Party. There is a gang problem that needs to be dealt with, as has been the case for decades.
If you actually want to deal with it then you must deal with the poverty, the hopelessness that creates gangs and while there is no way of knowing what National and ACT are proposing policy wise it would seem highly unlikely that that is on their short list.
Very polite calling Chris bishop a dog & suggesting he has a brain 🤣😂
Good to read rational thought. Thank you