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Herald NOW: PM on why so many Kiwis are leaving NZ
Prime Minister Chris Luxon joins Herald NOW's Ryan Bridge on OCR and why so many Kiwis are leaving NZ. Video / Herald NOW
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NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
Gang Patch Ban: 6052 charges laid, 132 patches seized, 426 gang warrants executed in six months
– Undertaken 426 searches of gang targets (Warrant: 175; Warrantless: 251) – Seized 89 firearms from gang members. - Seized 637 insignia items (including 132 patches). Police Minister Mark Mitchell praised the work, saying the legislation was working. 'Police around the country have done an outstanding job at enforcing the new gang laws,' Mitchell told the Herald. Police Minister Mark Mitchell during his walkabout with a police beat section in Wellington. 'It's proved to be an exceptional tool for police to roll over the top of gangs, and take back control of our streets. 'No longer do we see gang patches in public causing fear and intimidating law-abiding Kiwis, compliance remains high, and gang members have been sent a very clear message that police control the streets, not the gangs.' Basham, who heads police investigations agreed with his minister. 'To be fair to the gangs, we asked them to use good judgment if not, there would be consequences,' Basham said. Police conducted more than 500 meetings with gang leaders and communities prior to the legislation coming into force in late November. Police Assistant Commissioner Paul Basham. 'And for the most part they have complied with the legislation. 'There are some gang members that have been convicted and a few of those charges are being defended. 'But the convictions and prosecutions are just one measure. The success is what we are observing in communities, that that fear and intimidation from gangs has significantly reduced over the past six months. 'To me, that's the most obvious key to the success.' Black Power life member Denis O'Reilly. Photo / Paul Taylor Black Power life member Denis O'Reilly said gangs had been compliant. 'I was half expecting a big blow up but gang leadership has been intelligent enough and the police have done a great job by rallying those gang leaders to comply,' O'Reilly said. 'I was in Auckland for a Black Power league match and there was no visible gang insignia – not even T-shirts. 'Yet when they went back to their clubrooms, they were able to put on their patches.' O'Reilly said while gang friction was always in the wind, because rivals are not running into each other in town, there is less confrontation. 'Because the gangs are not annoying the public, they are not annoying each other as much,' he said. Basham said gang leaders had also been very clear to their members that losing their patches comes 'with consequences of threats of violence to fines'. The Herald has been told loss of a gang patch can cost the gang member up to $5000. Basham said of the 132 gang patches seized, police would ask the court to order the destruction of them if the owners are convicted. What gang tangi looked like before the November 21, 2024 legislation came into force. He said the extra resource given to the police meant they could react and also activate tough and clear responses to gang activity, utilising good gang intelligence. 'There are a number of other tools, like the Firearm Prohibition law, and powers that come that will make it difficult for gangs to operate,' Basham said. 'We know many of the gangs here are involved in organised gang activity. 'One hundred of the 500 extra police were earmarked for the gang units. Seventy-seven have, or will go into the district gang disruption units and 20 in the national gang unit in Wellington. 'You will see more police engagement working with gangs at gang tangi and as we observe high level of compliance, we can refocus our effort on where gangs are involved in violence, firearms and drugs. The real enemy are the cartels. Yes the gangs are involved in the distribution but where's it coming from? Lifetime Black Power member Denis O'Reilly 'Gangs are involved in a large scale in the methamphetamine distribution.' But O'Reilly says it's not solely the gangs that police should be concerned about over the drug trade. 'The real enemy are the cartels. Yes the gangs are involved in the distribution but where's it coming from? Offshore and the border controls are only now starting to see just how much unprecedented meth is coming here via the cartel. 'The real drug enemy is not within but from the outside. It's the foreign players who promise the young guys the earth, but don't explain you can only see it from 6 foot under. 'All police see is this gang mist.' Basham said the police objective was to prevent crime and if needed acts of strength, like they did in Ōpōtiki, would be utilised to support communities. Last October, officers executed 30 search warrants 'targeting identified people believed to be involved in a North Island-wide drug distribution network'. Twenty-eight people were arrested, and illegal drugs and firearms were also seized. Police were criticised by some MPs and also whānau caught up in the raids in the Bay of Plenty town for allegedly being too aggressive. Basham said police made no apologies for wanting to rid communities of violence and drugs. 'Preventing crime and harm is a major part of our focus,' he said. 'Like what has happened in Ōpōtiki, where police have come in and supported communities,' he said. 'We will continue to do that with the enforcement to help communities build resilience to drugs and crime. 'We are a modern policing service and proud how we police in 2025. We are evidence and intelligence led and this last six months and our ability to work in communities, reflects who we are and what's possible. 'We are positive about this legislation and committed.' 'If you look at the purpose of the Act and its intention on having an impact on how gangs operate and fear and intimidation, it's been successful and we have had a lot of feedback from the community and police. 'As an organisation, we want people to not only feel safe but be safe and leading up to the new legislation, we had observed behaviours around gang tangi which caused concerns across New Zealand. 'I think we have seen a significant reduction in that behaviour around those types of gatherings. 'Senior police have said to me they have not seen anything like it to what we were seeing before the legislation to what we are seeing now.' Basham said the anti-gang legislation was 'a tool among a suite of tools' police could use to make an impact on criminal behaviour. He said police also had received some intelligence that the patch ban had 'de-escalated some gang confrontations'. That included police hearing anecdotally that even gang members felt safer. 'I think some gang members themselves feel safer when they go into town to do their groceries, or drop their kids to school,' he said. 'We had a lot of engagement with gangs before this legislation was rolled out and we were clear of what was coming and wanted to be transparent. 'To their credit, many gangs have taken those conversations we had on board. 'It was clear what would happen if they breached the law.' Joseph Los'e is an award-winning journalist and joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa Māori Editor. Los'e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News, covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and prior to joining NZME worked for urban Māori organisation Whānau Waipareira. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Newsroom
17 hours ago
- Newsroom
The secret diary of .. Ryan Bridge
MONDAY Good morning to everybody in New Zealand especially the estimated 17 viewers who have tuned into the brand new morning show Herald Now. It's great to be back on TV and talking to you once again from a TV studio although I suppose it isn't really TV, it's a video livestream on the NZME website, and it's not really a TV studio, it's a desk someone knocked up in the weekend and chucked in a corner of the Herald newsroom. The paint's still a bit wet and I had to borrow a chair. They will probably want it back. That's the beauty of live TV. You just don't know what's going to happen next. Or if anything is going to happen. It could go either way. But it's exciting to work out of the Herald offices, where morale is at an all-time high. Look, there goes a newspaper journalist behind me, probably on his way to breaking a major news story. He's walking past with a cup of tea. He's sitting down at his desk. He's looking into the middle distance with what appears to be a look of utmost despair. It's that sense of excitement I'm hoping to channel as the host of Herald Now. TUESDAY Good morning New Zealand, especially our two new viewers. Many of you have been asking after the health of that journalist we saw yesterday. Well, he's back, and right now he's banging his head on the desk. Well, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. You may remember me as the presenter of a morning TV news programme on Newshub until the whole network went belly-up. It was a failed business model. I'll be joined on Herald Now sometimes by Herald reporter Michael Morrah, who worked with me at Newshub, and I'll also be talking with Garth Bray, who used to work at Fair Go until it went belly-up over at TVNZ, which declared programmes like Fair Go and Sunday were failed business models. It's all just part of the exciting new direction of Herald Now. WEDNESDAY Good morning New Zealand, especially Prime Minister Christopher Luxon who is my guest today. He's looking great, isn't he. He's looking every inch the leader of a centre-right coalition government which is holding firm against the dire threat of a communist take-over by the Labour Party, aided and abetted by the loonies from the Green Party. They want to release violent criminals. They want us to take the bus to work. They want to take your hard-earned money, and spend it on hospitals and schools. We must never allow this to happen. We must fight evil in all its manifest left-wing forms. Thank you Prime Minister for taking the time to appear on Herald Now. I understand you went to see the new Mission Impossible last week. Did you enjoy it? THURSDAY Good morning New Zealand, especially Steven Joyce, who takes up his new position as head of NZME next Tuesday. Steven, if you're watching, I want you to know that Herald Now is set to transform the way Kiwis get their news—in record numbers. The audience has grown to over two dozen this week and the feedback we're getting is that many viewers are wondering whether the paint on my desk has dried yet. I think I'm just going to keep that a bit of a mystery. FRIDAY Good morning New Zealand, and no, do not adjust your set. I'm not sitting behind a desk. I'm standing behind it. The person whose chair I borrowed has taken it back. I asked that journalist you saw earlier this week if I could borrow his chair but he bared his teeth, picked up the chair, threw it through a window—and then jumped out after it. He must really have valued that chair. Have a great King's Birthday Weekend, everyone!
NZ Herald
17 hours ago
- NZ Herald
David Seymour speaks to the media after being sworn in as the new Deputy PM
Herald NOW: PM on why so many Kiwis are leaving NZ Prime Minister Chris Luxon joins Herald NOW's Ryan Bridge on OCR and why so many Kiwis are leaving NZ. Video / Herald NOW
