National MP Moves to Strip Taxpayer Funding From Gang-Linked Organisations

A National MP is pushing for a law change that would ban gang-linked organisations from receiving any taxpayer funding, a move that has sparked debate about whether cutting off such groups does more harm than good in the fight against organised crime.

National MP Rima Nakhle has introduced a member’s bill that would use the existing legal definition of a gang to disqualify such organisations from public funding across all government agencies. Under existing law, a gang is defined as a group of three or more people who share a common name, signal, symbol or colour and are involved in criminal activity.

Nakhle says the bill is about sending a message that the people causing harm in communities should not be paid to address it. “Sending a very strong message that the people administering the poison are not going to be administering the antidote,” she said.

The bill comes with recent context. The coalition government moved in 2024 to halt taxpayer money flowing to the Kahukura rehabilitation programme through the Proceeds of Crime Fund. That programme, developed by Hard2Reach — a company founded by Mongrel Mob life member Harry Tam — had received $2.75 million via Kāinga Ora in 2021. Nakhle’s bill would go further, enshrining the funding prohibition in law so it applies across every government department and agency, rather than relying on ministerial decisions made case by case.

The MP has spoken in vivid terms about why she believes the change is necessary. “If I had a child, or a family member addicted to meth and then I found out that the people who sold them the meth are getting money to take them off meth, I would honestly want to cry,” she said.

She has framed the bill as part of a broader government effort to confront the misery gangs cause in communities. “We are cracking down on gangs, we are cracking down on the misery they are causing,” Nakhle said.

However, not everyone in the policy space is convinced the bill will achieve what its backers promise. Dr Trevor Bradley, a criminology lecturer at Victoria University, has said the proposal has obvious appeal ahead of the November general election but questioned whether it would produce good outcomes in practice.

“A great optic, particularly in the lead up to the election later in the year — this is extremely short-sighted,” Bradley said.

His concern centres on the practical challenge of reaching the communities most affected by gang activity. If organisations with genuine credibility inside those communities are defunded and excluded, he argues, the state loses one of its most effective tools for intervention. “If we want to reach those hard-to-reach communities, then we have to work with them,” Bradley said.

The debate reflects a tension that has run through New Zealand criminal justice policy for years. Gang rehabilitation programmes have long been controversial, with critics arguing that paying gang-affiliated groups to run social services creates perverse incentives and rewards criminal association. Supporters, on the other hand, point to the reality that trust between gang members and mainstream institutions is often minimal, and that community-embedded programmes can succeed where formal government services cannot.

New Zealand’s gang landscape has changed considerably over recent decades. Membership in groups such as the Mongrel Mob, Black Power, and the Comancheros has grown, while the trade in methamphetamine has brought significant wealth — and violence — into those networks. Gang-related harm is not evenly distributed across the population. It falls most heavily on Māori communities, on low-income households, and on the families and partners of gang members themselves.

Nakhle’s bill would not limit itself to any particular funding stream. Rather, by tying the prohibition to the existing legal definition of a gang, it would sweep across all government grant and contract programmes. Whether that breadth would survive the legislative process intact remains to be seen, but the bill’s introduction signals that National intends to keep gang policy front of mind as the year progresses.

The November election is now less than seven months away, and polls have shown the current coalition government facing a tighter race than many expected. The National Party has consistently campaigned on crime and public safety as defining issues, and moves like Nakhle’s bill are consistent with that strategy.

Whether the bill passes through Parliament this term is uncertain. As a member’s bill rather than a government bill, it must first be drawn from the ballot before it can progress. But even its introduction serves a purpose — laying out a position for voters who are weighing up which party is most serious about confronting organised crime.

The full details of the bill, along with the government’s recent record on gang funding, can be read at RNZ.

What do you think — should taxpayer money ever go to organisations with gang connections? Share your view in the comments below.