Labour’s confused and contradictory responses to National's latest policy on gangs shows why gangs are running amok under Labour, National's Justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

“If the Justice and Police ministers cannot agree on what they think about the proposal to make being a gang member an aggravating factor at sentencing, how can Kiwis have confidence that the Labour Government can combat rising gang violence across New Zealand?

“Justice Minister Kiri Allan immediately responded to National’s policy by claiming it would result in more people going to jail. But within minutes, Police Minister Ginny Andersen had stepped into Ms Allan’s portfolio claiming the policy was already law.

“Ms Andersen should stop taking legal advice from Twitter before talking to media in order to prevent more confusion and embarrassment for her Labour colleagues.

“The Justice Minister, who is responsible for the Sentencing Act 2002, is correct and Ms Andersen is wrong. Gang members will face tougher consequences for their crimes under National's proposal.

“Currently, a judge can only consider gang membership as an aggravating factor if the offence was gang related.

“That means if a gang member engages in domestic violence or an unprovoked attack on a member of the public, the fact they are a gang member wouldn’t affect their sentence unless there was a connection between the gang and that offence.

“National's proposal would mean gang membership must always be considered an aggravating factor when an identifiable gang member is convicted of a crime.

“Victims suffer more harm from crime committed by gang members, and there is a need to denounce crime gangs commit.

“Only a National government will restore law and order to New Zealand and that starts by cracking down on gangs.”