A person's gang membership will become a specific aggravating factor during criminal sentencing if voters opt for a change of government at the election, National's Christopher Luxon has announced.
The opposition leader said, if he became prime minister, judges would be required to factor in an offender's gang membership when sentencing them for any crimes.
But Labour's police spokesperson has already hit back, suggesting the change proposed by National amounted to only a minor tweak of existing sentencing laws.
Luxon announced the policy next to businesses on Auckland's Queen Street today.
He said: "By making gang membership an aggravating factor, judges will be required to consider this when determining a sentence. In practice, it means offenders who are known members of criminal gangs will likely face tougher sentences for crime.
"Aggravating factors acknowledge that in some cases, the circumstances surrounding a crime may inflict greater harm upon their victims, and so warrant stronger sentences.
"National believes the visible presence of gangs in communities can lead to prolonged fear and intimidation for victims who have suffered at the hands of gang-related offences," Christopher Luxon said.
It comes after parts of Ōpōtiki were shut down this week for the tangi of Steven Taiatini, the president of the Mongrel Mob Barbarians club.
That included closures of schools and roads as hundreds of patched gang members arrived in the town. A homicide investigation has been opened into Taiatini's death.
In its media release, National said it wanted to explicitly add membership as an aggravating factor in the Sentencing Act, in addition to existing laws which already factored in gang participation to sentencing when there was a connection with a crime.
"While participation in an "organised criminal group", may be considered an aggravating factor if there is a connection between the "organised crime" and the particular offence, National believes gang membership should always be an aggravating factor when a gang member commits a crime," the party said in its announcement.
Making gang membership an aggravating factor on its own was also part of National's policy platform during the 2020 election campaign under then-leader Judith Collins.
When asked if he was politicising the tangi, Luxon said the claim was "absolute rubbish".
"I will always open my mouth and speak up for New Zealanders. because there are other New Zealanders; why are their rights subsumed to gangs? That is utterly unacceptable."
'Pretty lazy stuff' - Labour on Nats' policy
Police Minister Ginny Andersen said National had the "policy microwave set on reheat" and said the party's proposed policy was only a "technical tweak" to existing laws.
Ginny Andersen told Q+A that initiatives like more police officers and other prevention measures were helping tackle crime. (Source: 1News)
"The law as it stands says sentencing must take into account being in a gang or organised crime group as an aggravated factor in sentencing. National are simply proposing a technical tweak," she said in a media release.
"Just this March, a Mongrel Mob president was sentenced to at least 10 and a half years prison with his connection to organised crime being an aggravating factor.
"It’s a rehash of the policy it took to the 2020 election and is pretty lazy stuff."
Meanwhile, Green Party justice spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman said making the law change would not make Kiwis any safer.
Other anti-gang policies National has been pursuing include commitments to ban gang patches in public spaces and giving police non-association powers to prevent members from communicating with each other.
The party has said it would also give police more warrantless search powers and crack down on young criminals by instituting military-style boot camps.
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