Gang, gun law changes 'absolutely' followed correct process - Luxon

The government is defending the process taken over last-minute changes to gang patch and gun club legislation.

The changes both skipped the select committee consultation phase typically applied to legislation, but ministers say they are minor and appropriate for their purpose.

Labour says the process followed has been "incredibly poor" - and the gang patch change in particular is aimed at using a "big stick" to make sure the law is enforceable.

That change extends the gang patch ban for those who have been prosecuted for breaching it three times, making it so they are also banned from wearing the patch at home.

It also gives police increased search powers so they can go into gang members' homes to enforce it, if they suspect the gang member has insignia at home.

The other change was to the Arms Act, and removes reporting obligations for gun clubs when weapons and ammunition are used on site.

Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee said it was a minor adjustment that would support clubs to continue operating, and it had been signed off by her other ministerial colleagues. It would not affect public safety, she said.

Neither change was sent to a select committee, meaning they were not subject to public scrutiny. The patches change was added during the Committee of the Whole House, while the gun club change went through as an order in council.

The NZ Herald has reported on Official Information Act documents showing Ministers were talking about the amendment as early as March.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the government was "absolutely" confident the right legislative processes have been used.

"Absolutely. We're going to be tough on gangs and we're going to make their life very very difficult. We do not want people joining gangs and I think the amendment that was made was completely acceptable for that small group of people who are repeat offenders.

"I make no apologies for that, we're going to go hard on gangs, period."

He said the gun club change was small and technical.

"A very small technical change for clubs that are largely run by volunteers, if you use your guns and ammunition on site that there isn't a reporting obligation .... but if you take it off site then it is."

"So, a small technical change about annual reporting for gun clubs that are run by volunteers, to encourage people who want to use guns to use them safely and train how to use them properly."

But Labour leader Chris Hipkins questioned those claims.

"If they're small technical tweaks, why are they being so secretive about them? Ultimately, if they're nothing to worry about, why hide them?".

Ministers making 'no apologies'

The Law Society sent an open letter to Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Police Minister Mark Mitchell raising concerns about the patches change - saying it was a significant extension of police powers.

The letter raised concerns about the process taken, as well as about the amendment potentially breaching the Bill of Rights Act - specifically because it sought to regulate "speech" in the private home.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell said the purpose of the legislation was to act as a deterrent to gang members.

"It's a great deterrent because gang members hate having their houses searched, and so that's why it's there ... police wanted it so they will enforce it."

He said the government was "not at all" trying to avoid consultation.

"It's gone through a full lengthy process, I would have liked to see that legislation passed earlier, it's gone through a full lengthy process, it's gone through a select committee process."

When challenged that the amendment had not gone to select committee, he explained Cabinet wanted the bill to be strengthened.

"In perfect case scenario you would have had it in the select committee process, however we felt to make sure that legislation was strong and it actually delivered the powers the police needed, to be effective, it needed to be added to the bill. It went through the full Cabinet process and now it's in the bill."

He said he would need to check the advice on whether it breached any Bill of Rights considerations, including on freedom of expression.

"But the advice that I've had from police is they need a tool like this as a strong deterrent for gang members not to wear their patches. And let's just remember, if gang members actually stick to the law and adhere to the law, they don't wear their patches, they've got no problem, they've got nothing to fear."

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith earlier told Newstalk ZB the question had come up during the select committee process.

"All we're doing is saying if you are convicted three times of wearing the gang patch in public then there is an escalating consequence for that ... you get a ban not only in public but in your private home. And if the police suspect, they can go and search for it."

He said it was about giving police the tools they needed to deal with gang members, and the government would make no apologies for that.

"We're less worried about the rights of the gang members than we are about the rights of ordinary citizens to go about without fear and intimidation in their communities."

Labour: Govt 'worried it won't be able to be enforced'

But Labour's Police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said there was no good reason for the amendment to have been excluded, given an

"It's incredibly poor process that it wasn't included for the select committee to consider ... Ministers were looking at that information in March, there's no good reason why it was excluded from the select committee."

She said the ministers should answer why it was added so late in the process.

"I think they're worried that it won't be able to be enforced and this is an extra big stick at the last minute to try and hope that it might be able to be enforced in places where there's insufficient police numbers."

She said it was really concerning that wearing a patch in your own home could now be penalised with a $10,000 fine or five years in prison.

"That seems incredibly harsh for not displaying something publicly, and it willl be really interesting to see how that plays out with gang tensions and some of the rural parts of New Zealand."

It would also be interesting to see how the search powers were used, she said.

"It'll be really interesting to see how they are worked in practice. I think they're designed to help police where there's insufficient police numbers to effectively enforce this law. That's not a good way to make law."