Green candidate who called police ‘pigs’ joins Mongrel Mob hui

Summarised by Centrist

Te Pāti Māori MP Oriini Kaipara has defended visiting a Mongrel Mob pad run by Harry Tam south of Auckland alongside Green candidates Michel Mulipola and Hūhana Lyndon and fellow Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, Stuff reports.

Kaipara posted photographs and videos showing the candidates with patched gang members. She described the gathering as being about “the health and wellbeing of the Mob community”.

“Being present doesn’t mean endorsing everything. It means recognising that whānau do not stop being whānau because of a patch,” she said.

Kaipara said she attended to discuss social issues, encourage voting and “challenge violence”. Green co-leader Marama Davidson defended the visit, saying: “We're not apologising.”

“I have one simple question for these candidates. Did you ask any of the Mongrel Mob members you met what they did to get patched? Because their victims know,” National’s justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith said.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins also condemned the visit during the NZ Herald leaders’ debate: “No, I don’t condone it. I think it was a bad judgment.” He ruled out giving the Greens or Te Pāti Māori the police or corrections portfolios in a future government.

Broadcaster Michael Laws questioned whether Hipkins could keep that promise in coalition negotiations, arguing that withholding ministerial portfolios would not prevent the Greens or Te Pāti Māori from influencing police and corrections policy.

“That they don't have the portfolio assigned to one of them as a minister doesn't mean they won't have any less influence in policymaking in a cabinet that you might lead,” Laws said on The Platform.

Davidson continued defending the meetings, describing engagement with the Mongrel Mob as “not a new thing”. “We’re proud, and we have done that year and year again,” she said.

Davidson noted in an interview that the Greens would look at reversing the gang patch ban. 

Editor’s note: In April, Davidson defended Mulipola after posts surfaced showing him calling police “pigs”, ripping up the New Zealand flag and insulting a government minister. She said his candidacy brought different expectations: “As a Green candidate, he knows that we have a standard of approach and language”.

Now that same candidate is attending a Mongrel Mob hui, and Davidson is unapologetic.

Voters are entitled to ask what those promised standards mean in practice. Kaipara says attending does not amount to endorsement. Yet publishing friendly photographs with patched gang members creates a political message that deserves scrutiny.

Goldsmith’s question brings victims back into that discussion. The parties have explained why they wanted to engage with gang members. What did they say to those members about the harm gangs cause—and what accountability did they demand?

Read more at Stuff

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