As we head into the final week of our Coalition Government’s first 100 days, I’d like to update you on an issue raised repeatedly with me in last year’s election campaign: law and order.
The previous Government’s soft-on-crime approach left many Kiwis feeling unsafe in their own communities as violent crime climbed by 33 per cent and gang membership by 51 per cent, or 3,000 people. Things had to change.
We’re introducing legislation to provide police with new tools to crack down on gangs. Here’s the lowdown on the new powers:
- Gang insignia will be banned in public places
- Police will be able to issue dispersal notices, requiring gang members to immediately leave an area and not associate with one another for seven days
- Courts will be able to issue non-consorting orders, stopping gang offenders from associating for up to three years
- Gang membership will carry greater weight as an aggravating factor at sentencing, giving courts the ability to impose more sever punishments on serious offenders.
We’ve also just announced new measures to get the guns off the gangs through Firearms Prohibition Orders.
My simple belief is that Kiwis deserve to feel safe, without intimidation from gangs, and these measures are a great start.
This Government was elected to change the direction in which our country was heading, and we’re delivering that change.
We’ve got a busy week coming up as we tick off the final action points on our 100-Day Plan. After that, I’m looking forward to sharing our next steps in delivering for New Zealanders across the economy, law and order, health and education.