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Freedom of Expression

Gang Patch Ban Misses The Point

The Libertarianz Party opposes the ban on gang patches in Wanganui, saying there would be no need for the ban if New Zealand had a decent Bill of Rights that was properly enforced, if there was appropriate sentencing for violent crime, if victimless activities such as recreational drug use were legalised, and if single parenthood was not rewarded with taxpayer handouts.

“The outlawing of gang insignia is clearly at odds with the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990 which states that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form,” said party leader Richard McGrath.

“Shame on ACT turncoats Rodney Hide, David Garrett and John Boscowan for their abandonment of principle which allowed this encroachment on a basic freedom. This U-turn is a betrayal of their party’s core values.”

“If violent offenders were incarcerated for appropriate lengths of time in spartan conditions, and forced to compensate their victims, many of these thugs would be off our streets,” said Dr McGrath.

“The huge profits gangs make from selling drugs could be wiped out with one stroke of the pen, by legalising the adult use of recreational substances,” he said. “This sounds radical, and it is, but so was the twenty-first amendment to the U.S. constitution which repealed the prohibition of alcohol.”

“The other change New Zealand needs is to trash Geoffrey Palmer’s self-emasculating, toothless Bill of Rights Act and replace it with a constitution such as that proposed by the Libertarianz Party, which offers ironclad protection of individual rights.”

“Ultimately, the best way to deal with gangs is to wipe out the incentive for joining them in the first place,” said Dr McGrath. “With enforcement of property rights, with constitutional guarantees to allow New Zealanders to act in self-defence using adequate retaliatory force, with the financial undermining of gangs by legalising the sale of recreational drugs, and by locking up criminals and forcing them to compensate their victims, the attractiveness of gangs to young people would be significantly diminished.”

“Consideration should also be given to abolishing welfare handouts to solo parents,” said Dr McGrath. “Single-parent families are a breeding ground for the next generation of deadbeat dads whose children often drift into the gang scene because they have lacked any positive male role models in their upbringing. If we continue to reward single-parent families, we will simply get more of them.”

ENDS