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A representative from the Waikato Mongrel Mob has clashed with a panel of parliamentarians in a tense standoff over a possible firearms control law.
Louise Hutchinson, a public relations liaison for the Waikato-based Mongrel Mob Kingdom, challenged MPs to stop creating a “bogeyman” of gangs in a sometimes heated exchange at a select parliamentary committee Thursday.
But his claims about gang chapter reform drew the ire of National Party MPs Simon Bridges and Simeon Brown, who repeatedly questioned Hutchinson about the gang’s criminality.
“Do your members still have illegal guns and when will they turn them over?” Brown told Hutchinson.
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom public relations representative Louise Hutchinson led a parliamentary select committee Thursday to confront MPs over a proposed firearm control order bill.
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The gang’s representative was in Wellington to protest the Gun Amendment Bill (Firearms Prohibition Orders), a possible law pushed by the National Party.
The bill has not been supported by Labor, but crossed an initial vote in the House with the support of NZ First in the previous government.
If successful, the bill would allow police to impose a firearm ban on a person if they are a gang member or have committed domestic violence or a felony in the past 10 years. If a person subject to such an order is found with a firearm, they can be imprisoned for up to 14 years, depending on the type of weapon.
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
National Congressman Simeon Brown displays news articles detailing the crimes of Waikato gang members.
Hutchinson said the bill was “racist in intent” and “violates the traditional rights of Maori” to gather food and gather as iwi, hapu or whānau, as these gatherings take place in the homes of the rightful owners. of firearms.
He said the bill was an attempt by the National Party to introduce Australian-style non-association laws designed to crack down on gangs.
“We believe without a doubt that this was a politically motivated bill that was pulled from the polls … simply to win votes, and continued the agenda of the National Party and right-wing political parties to be tough on gangs. “.
She challenged politicians to put politics aside, before giving a lengthy account of the Kingdom chapter’s violent history and a defense of its leader, Sonny Fatu, who said he had pushed for “transformative change” and an agent of peace.
National Party police spokesman Simeon Brown, who in recent weeks has been agitating on Twitter over such a confrontation with the gang, called Hutchinson’s presentation a “public relations exercise” rather than a comment on the project. Of law.
“Why do I read in the newspapers that your members are still selling methamphetamine? Why do I hear in the newspapers that your members are still being arrested and that they have firearms, illegal firearms that are on property?” he said, holding up printed news articles.
When the conversation turned into an argument, Brown asked if Fatu owned guns.
Hutchinson said Brown was talking about members of another Waikato-based chapter.
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
National Rep. Simon Bridges in Thursday’s hearing.
“We don’t have a dictatorship in Waikato, Sonny leads by examples … He has no weapons, where is your proof?”
Labor MP Ginny Andersen, chair of the Justice Select Committee, intervened to remind MPs to be respectful.
Bridges, who has clashed with Hutchinson before in a meeting in Tauranga, asked him about Fatu’s comments that gang members would not surrender their firearms during the now-banned weapons buyback.
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
The chair of the Select Committee on Justice, Labor MP Ginny Andersen, occasionally reminded MPs to be “respectful.”
Fatu had said that the gangs would not surrender firearms, but later said he had told their members to “do the right thing” and participate in the buyback.
“How many illegal weapons do your members have?” Bridges asked.
Hutchinson said the media reports were wrong.
“Is this a PR stunt for you, Simon? … If the police, or you have evidence, then bring it to us. “
The session ended with National Representative Nick Smith saying that it was not racist to oppose gangs, due to the amount of violent crimes perpetrated by their members.
