6. RON MARK (NZ First) Link to this
to the Minister of Police
Does she agree with the reported comments of former police officer Cam Stokes that gangs are here to stay; if so, what is being done by her Government to combat gangs?
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Defence) Link to this
Can I first express the Minister’s and my condolences to the family of Sergeant Don Wilkinson, killed on duty in Mangere this morning. In reply to the question, in New Zealand and other societies the existence of gangs and of organised crime is longstanding, but that is not an argument for complacency about them or their activities. There are two very important pieces of Government legislation currently before Parliament that target gangs and organised crime and are designed to make life harder for them, and new search and surveillance legislation will soon be introduced into Parliament that will also help police efforts to target organised crime. Drug laws have been made tougher, resourcing of police to curb gang activities has been strengthened, and the Organised and Financial Crime Agency set up. Those are just a few of the actions that have been taken by the Government to combat gangs.
Would she agree, if gangs are here to stay, that we should be making life as difficult as possible for them, firstly by refusing to accept their existence by outlawing them, such as has happened in South Australia, and by establishing a high-level forensic accounting and investigative capability that is able to not only investigate the personal trading activities of individuals, trusts, and accountants, but also of trading banks and their corporate level customers?
In response to the two questions there, I say, firstly, that I have looked at the Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act of 2008, which has just come into effect in Australia. It has been operational for about a month. We will be following that closely to see how effective it is in controlling the activities of outlaw motorcycle gangs. Secondly, in relation to the financial matters that the member has mentioned, I say probably the greatest concern we should have—and I know this is how the police feel about it—is not the gangs who are wearing patches on the streets and who are very visible in committing street crime but, rather, the gangs who we do not see and who are heavily involved in drug trafficking and money-laundering, etc. That is why our money-laundering legislation has been considerably strengthened in recent reforms, and that is why the Organised and Financial Crime Agency has been set up, with enhanced powers and greater resources. I agree with the member that it is incumbent on all sections of society, not just the Government, to show zero tolerance towards those organised criminal activities.
Jill PettisBecause we know that gangs are closely associated with an enormous amount of crime, police operations have targeted gang members. Last year, for example, the police made 6,134 arrests of persons with identified gang connections and brought over 26,000 charges against them. The growing number of inmates with gang connections in our prisons is also testament to the effective action taken by the police in prosecuting and convicting gang members and leaders.
Would the Minister care to give the Government’s view on the contents of the following email, part of which I shall quote: “I used to be a corporate banker. It is not common knowledge, but most of the major gangs are corporate customers—the biggest and best—of the trading banks, with their own managers, exchange and money market dealers enjoying risk grade A (the best) interest rates, and their key staff enjoy preferential services and interest rates too. Even in the late 1980s and early 1990s when only a few major companies like the Dairy Board could afford their own Reuters and Telerate screens for foreign exchange, shares, etc., the Mongrel Mob was so equipped.”; and what would the Government’s response be to such advice?
I would be very concerned if the information contained in that email were correct and corporate people were facilitating the laundering and banking of money by gang members. That is the sort of issue that the member might like to take up directly with the Banking Ombudsman—or, for that matter, with me—for further investigation. What I can say is that the new anti - money-laundering legislation makes it much more difficult for criminal gangs to launder the proceeds of crime, and it imposes stricter requirements about customer identification, record-keeping, reporting, and transaction-monitoring on financial institutions. If that email comes from a reputable source, it is the sort of thing I would be interested in following up.