Centrist: Three more gang members than police — but 49,000 fewer victims

1News recently reported that there are “10,475 police officers and 10,478 gang members.”

Since the 2023 election, gang numbers have risen 13%, or 1208 more members, while police numbers have increased by 264. Labour’s Ginny Andersen called the new figures “a broken promise from the Prime Minister” and “an absolute failure”.

Yet on the same day, the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey showed there were 49,000 fewer victims of violent crime in the year to October 2025 compared with the previous two years.

Matua Kahurangi: Labour loves the gangs!

Labour is once again being linked with gangs, this time over the gang patch ban. During a debate in Tāmaki Makaurau, Labour candidate Peeni Henare was asked if he supported repealing the ban on wearing gang insignia in public. His answer? “Āe.” Yes.

Kerre Woodham: If you want to live outside the law, expect your life to be difficult

Police have announced Operation Nickel, a nationwide operation focused on the enforcement of the Gangs Act 2024. What is the Gangs Act 2024? It's the specific piece of legislation that enforces the prohibition of the display of gang Insignia in public places. It provides for the issue of dispersal notices to stop gang members from gathering in public places, and it also makes provisions for non-consorting orders to prevent specified gang offenders from associating or communicating with each other for three years.

Kerre Woodham: Where was the buy in from the police?

Late in the show yesterday, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster along with Police Minister Mark Mitchell announced they would be introducing a National Gang Unit to crack down on gang crime and gangs’ anti-social behaviour.

Point of Order: Rawiri Waititi and gangs

Rawiri Waititi is the MP with a gripe about police powers to crack down on guns and gangs (but perhaps there are others)

The headline on a One News report – Police use new powers to hit gangs, but not all MPs happy – alerted the public to political concerns about search powers granted to the police to crack down on gangs.

Actually, it was an RNZ report but One News has republished it, and it kicked off:

Suze: We Say We Want Free Speech, but at What Cost?

Imagine free speech as a label on one end of a horizontal line on a page and at the other end is censorship. X is where the two extremes meet somewhere in the middle. X marks the spot on the line where free speech ends and censorship begins: a moving target specific to the subject being discussed or acted on.

A recent example is the Hamas violence against Israel. Sky News aired a clip of an Australian woman supporting Palestine shouting into the microphone, “We support Palestine, we support Palestinians and we support Hamas.” She was exercising her right to free speech by stating her beliefs – misguided, and with the likelihood of very little Australian support for Hamas’s massacre of around 1,000 Israeli civilians. Good on Sky News for airing such a polarising segment. NZ media wouldn’t dare and the NZ Greens won’t squeak their support for Palestine until after the election. It would cost them votes.

Kerre Woodham: Gangs are not the victims here

As you have heard in our news, a hikoi has begun from Northland to Parliament to oppose National and ACT’s gang policies and to highlight the negative impact those policies could have on the Whanau of gang members.

The hikoi is also stopping off at marae and gang houses along the way to encourage people to vote (presumably not for National or ACT). The policies the hikoi organisers are concerned about include National’s proposal to make gang membership an aggravating factor at sentencing, with the intention of gang members facing tougher consequences for their crimes. The banning of gang patches in public places, boosting police numbers to enable warrantless searches, preventing some gang members from communicating and restricting public meetings. ACT wants to introduce gang control orders to crack down on gang members and increase the power police have to seize assets of members found with illegal firearms.

Kerre Woodham: How can Labour say they've been tough on gangs?

Labour's self aggrandising press release on police came through late in the show yesterday, so we didn't really get a chance to get our teeth into it.

The press release came from Chris Hipkins, well his office. A Labour Government will deliver a further increase of 300 additional frontline police officers, new ways to crack down on gangs, and strengthen legal protections against stalking and harassment, we will also continue to crack down on gangs.

Ross Meurant: Is Our Country At Risk?

Definitely and we know why: Matthew 10.36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

But just for a moment, step beyond the mess Labour have delivered during their reign of economic ruin, rampant crime and racial division of New Zealand.

International Headlines:

- Second Ecuador politician killed in less than a week. (1)
- Ecuador election: 'I'm wearing a bulletproof vest 24 hours a day. (2)
- Ecuador election: Narco politics rule ahead of polls. (3)

These headlines must send a warning to the rest of the globe. Read the articles and it’s clear that “control” of Ecuador, Columbia, Mexico and other Central American states is increasing placed in the hands of drug cartels.

Point of Order: Labour and National at odds over Operation Cobalt....

....and the govt’s policies to bring gang criminals to book

Law and order was raised at Question Time in Parliament yesterday after an exchange of press statements on the issue – and the treatment of gangs – between National MP Mark Mitchell and Police Minister Ginny Andersen.

The Question Time duel was triggered when Mitchell asked if Andersen stood by her statement that she believed New Zealanders “feel safer” – and, if so, why?

The Minister said she stood by her full statement at that time it was given.

Hugh Perrett: Criminal Gangs — eradicate them from our society — NOW !!

I refer to recent issues of the NZ Herald and to the spoken media and their respective recent publications / presentations concerning the serious escalation in Criminal Gang violence/ drive-by shootings — albeit mainly inter-Gang violence.

It is encouraging that the totally unacceptable nature of this shooting-violence is at last attracting greater attention from Government, who have until now had an observably VERY soft attitude to Criminal Gang activities, although clearly Government have not yet come up with a meaningful, let alone an appropriate, strategy, to combat them.

Ross Meurant: Gangs - Unbridled Power

What is a gang? 

A group of bikies?  A group of one ethnicity? Adolescent street urchins?  A group of rugby supporters celebrating victory in a bar? Mercenaries?  Was Red Squad a gang?  Are roadside workers gangs?  Sheep shearers? 

Unless a group or gang is subject to and complies with the rule of law in which it operates, adverse outcomes invariably occur.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: I agree with the Chief Science Advisor's position on gangs

Here’s hoping Police National Headquarters is listening to the Government’s Chief Science Advisor following her report into gangs.

Because by the looks of things... she’s taking a stronger position on gangs than they are.

This might surprise you, because Juliet Gerrard is, after all, the Chief Science Advisor to the Labour Government, who just got endorsed by the Mongrel Mob’s Harry Tam.

Andrew Dickens: The treatment of the Police is regrettable

There's an old political wisdom that if you've got bad news to tell, drop the news last thing on Friday so it gets buried by the weekend.

So I was a bit confused to be watching One News on Friday with John Campbell oozing and gesticulating all over the screen, telling a story that on the surface seemed to be good news.

1News exclusively revealed that nearly 40,000 charges have been laid with over 8,300 people arrested to date as part of Operation Cobalt, their operation against gang activities.

Karl du Fresne: Kiwi life

They closed the schools for several days recently in the small New Zealand town of Opotiki. A gang leader had been killed and the police expected trouble as his associates massed in their hundreds for the funeral. Principals were worried about their pupils’ safety and many of the town’s older residents similarly decided it was wiser to stay at home.

Garrick Tremain: Priorities

 Here is Garrick Tremain's cartoon commentary on yellow line priority! 

Kate Hawkesby: I'm not sure when the 6pm news decided to be a promo channel for gangs

I'm not sure when the 6pm news decided to be a promo channel for gangs, or why they wanted to spend so much time eulogising a gang leader, but I thought the way that Mongrel Mob tangi was covered last night was disgraceful.

We've lost the plot in this country - and we wonder why we have gang problems.

The coverage looked like a recruitment drive or a PR video for the gangs. We got so ill served as viewers, the real news was not what a great man other gang members or whānau thought he was, it was not to display endlessly all their patches and motorbikes and burnouts like they're some kind of heroes, it was not to run glowing commentary on how they saw off their leader.

Mike Hosking: We've lost our real world view when it comes to Ōpōtiki

What I value about people like Mark Mitchell is they bring real world experience to a situation.

Mark was a cop, he was a dog handler and he has been to Ōpōtiki. When he went to Ōpōtiki 20 years ago it was a different world.

Kate Hawkesby: You can’t bluff your way out of this and keep telling us we feel safe

Well we learned yesterday that state housing tenants call the shots at Kāinga Ora, in that they know they won’t be evicted so they do whatever they want.

Figures showed despite 10,000 complaints, only three had been evicted in 18 months. So, bad behaviour rules the roost there.

Then we learn also this week that gangs clearly run Ōpōtiki. Again, they know they can do whatever they want, and an entire community will just shut down around them. The fact this is happening in our country, in 2023, beggars belief.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: What the police in Ōpōtiki endured today was embarrassing

It must’ve sucked to be a police officer in Ōpōtiki today, having to provide traffic control for the Mongrel Mob so they could have total uninterrupted use of the road for the funeral procession.

That must’ve been a really cool experience for our officers, providing an escort to a bunch of people who probably deserve to see the inside of a jail cell, rather than getting waved through like VIPs or dignitaries.

But that is exactly what happened today.