{"id":634745,"date":"2026-10-18T23:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T23:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/634745\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T23:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T23:34:10","slug":"election-2026-te-pati-maoris-oriini-kaipara-vowed-to-restore-mana-to-mongrel-mob-at-gang-pad-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/634745\/","title":{"rendered":"Election 2026: Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori\u2019s Oriini Kaipara vowed to restore \u2018mana\u2019 to Mongrel Mob at gang pad visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cOur policies reinstate what should have always been.\u201d<\/p>\n

The clip of Kaipara\u2019s speech began with the words \u201cthat I think everyone should be quite scared about\u201d. It was unclear what that was in relation to.<\/p>\n

Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n

Photos published to social media last week showed Mongrel Mob members meeting with Green MP H\u016bhana Lyndon and candidate Michel Mulipola, as well as Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori MPs Oriini Kaipara and Hana-R\u0101whiti Maipi-Clarke.<\/p>\n

After seeing the footage today, National\u2019s justice spokesman Paul Goldsmith was scathing. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is outrageous. There is no excuse for gang sympathy. They peddle misery and havoc throughout New Zealand. Unlike Te Pati M\u0101ori, National has been focused on restoring mana to victims, not the gangs. This is just another example of why we cannot let them anywhere near law and order. They\u2019ll undermine all of our hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, Green Party co-leader Chl\u00f6e Swarbrick refused to say if she would have advised MP Lyndon against meeting with members of the Mongrel Mob.<\/p>\n

\"OriiniOriini Kaipara speaks to members of the Mongrel Mob in Auckland.<\/p>\n

Labour leader Chris Hipkins this morning told media his party would not support any rights for gangs.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I think gangs are a scourge on society, they do enormous harm, they peddle drugs, they perpetuate violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve dealt with victims of gang violence including women who have fled gang relationships where they have been the subject of violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no time for the gangs, they will not get any support from any government that I lead.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Labour would not support any changes to the current ban on gang patches.<\/p>\n

He earlier labelled the move as a \u201chuge error of judgement\u201d and later ruled out both Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori and the Green Party from holding major ministerial roles<\/a> if they came to form a government. <\/p>\n

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, who also posed with gang leader in 2021, said she was \u201cunapologetic\u201d for engaging with marginalised communities.<\/a><\/p>\n

Act deputy leader Nicole McKee said she wanted to know what Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori is proposing for M\u0101ori victims of crime. <\/p>\n

McKee cited the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey which found 33 per cent of M\u0101ori adults experienced at least one criminal offence in 2025, compared with 28 per cent of New Zealanders overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch of this misery will have been either directly or indirectly due to gangs, whether it\u2019s their violent acts or because of the meth they peddle.<\/p>\n

\u201cTe P\u0101ti M\u0101ori say they want to restore their mana. They have none. They lost it when they chose a life where their profits come from the misery of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mongrel Mob National Trust administrator Cherie Kurarangi said last week the real problem was the cost of food and petrol.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just something like a regular go-to that the Government has about \u2026 gang wh\u0101nau \u2026 we\u2019ll be the scapegoat again, instead of focusing on something that\u2019s real. We\u2019re not the problem right now. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what the problem is? The cost of food, the cost of petrol. Real, basic, essential issues. Not us.\u201d<\/p>\n

She described the political pushback over the meeting as \u201cnot a new tactic\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cOur policies reinstate what should have always been.\u201d The clip of Kaipara\u2019s speech began with the words \u201cthat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2246,1975,51,10039,2837,5903,1328,23157,685,74384,4754,4281,4280,2720,119254,111,43,139,69,60340,4488,46800,23365,8690,61,9863,44977,686],"class_list":["post-634745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-2246","tag-at","tag-auckland","tag-controversial","tag-during","tag-election","tag-gang","tag-kaipara","tag-last","tag-mana","tag-members","tag-mob","tag-mongrel","tag-mori","tag-moris","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-oriini","tag-pad","tag-pti","tag-restore","tag-te","tag-to","tag-visit","tag-vowed","tag-week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}