A proposal to ban the wearing of gang insignia in public places in Wanganui has taken a step forward with parliament voting in favour of sending National MP Chester Borrows' bill to select committee for consideration.
The Wanganui move was prompted by the shooting of two-year-old Jhia Te Tua in a gang-related incident last year.
Labour MP Martin Gallagher says people should be able to live in a community and not have a sense of being intimidated. He says forms of insignia used in a way that will intimidate people go beyond the fundamental rights in New Zealand of freedom of speech.
The bill easily passed but was opposed by the Greens, Maori Party and Act.
The Maori Party's has likened the plan to ban the wearing of gang patches in Wanganui to the targeting of Jews in the World War II. Co-leader Tariana Turia opposes the proposal and says that like the Jews, members of gangs will be punished for being part of a particular group.
She says all the bill does is to exclude and force the problem out of sight. Turia says banning people on the basis of what they wear on their back does not address the real issues.
New Zealand First MP Ron Mark says the banning of gang insignia in public places should be just the start and the next step is to ban gangs altogether.
Mark says he has witnessed members of the Mongrel Mob showing off their patches as they walked through the terminal at Wellington Airport. He says they were there purely to intimidate people and threaten them.
