The National Party says it will block gang members and their associates from the dole if they can't prove legal income or assets.
Black Power spokesperson Eugene Ryder said punishing families won't help anyone. Photo: RNZ / Leigh McLachlan
Simon Bridges told Morning Report the party is determined to crack down on gangs.
It's a value judgement, he said, and 92 percent of patched gang members have received a main benefit, he said.
The National Party is set to release a new discussion document today about its policies on social services.
Mr Bridges couldn't say how many children would be impacted by blocking gang members from benefits.
"That's not the intention of the policy to get at the families, the intention is to get at the gang member," he said.
"There is a view out there ... a trendy sort of view put forward by people that gangs are about whānau and community, I reject that."
'Either we're serious about dealing with this or we're not' - Simon Bridges
He said most patched gang members have received a benefit for an average of nine years.
"You've got a situation where the patched gang member can stump up and say you know what, actually that Harley Davidson it was paid for in this way, because I was a tradie for several years and this is how I made the money. If they can't do it, the truth is there's a reason why they can't do that, and that's because it's from ill-gotten gains."
Three quarters of patched gang members are Māori .
National Party leader Simon Bridges. Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
Mr Bridges said Māori are also disproportionately victims by crime.
Black Power spokesperson Eugene Ryder said punishing families won't help anyone.
"I think [Simon Bridges is] talking to a part of society who have no idea about living in a low socio-economic areas. What he's doing is targeting people who are already on the cusp of society."
Taking away a source of income from people will encourage them to commit crime, he said.
"There's an assumption that every gang member's a criminal" - Black Power spokesperson Eugene Ryder
"What he's trying to do is use the same rhetoric that is used every election which is how hard we are going to smash the gangs and who's got the biggest hammer.
"What he hasn't done is address the reason people are in gangs - because of the poverty that they live in."
A lot of people make money from illegal means, not just gang members, he said.
"There's an assumption that every gang member's a criminal and every criminal's a gang member, now that's just not true."
The policy is a presumption of guilt, he said.