It hardly seems believable that government minister Marama Davidson would attend a ‘gangland get-together’ and have a conversation about how hard done by and picked-on gangs are, says Darroch Ball co-leader of Sensible Sentencing Trust.

“It can now be no surprise we have a flourishing gangland environment sweeping across this country when we have ministers endorsing and excusing gangs, ignoring their victims, and ignoring our communities across the country who are becoming fearful in their own streets.”

“What’s worse is the fact that Davidson blamed colonisation and racism for the existence of gangs and their criminal behaviour. In fact, the clear message she sent was that gangs were the true victims in our society.”

“Either Davidson deliberately ignored the fact that there are thousands of victims of violent crimes perpetrated by gang members every year in our country, or she has just shown how truly out of touch she is living in her leafy suburb.”

“With the huge increase in gang numbers, shootings, and violent crimes over the past few months, the fact that Davidson spoke at the meeting shines a light on their belief they can ‘hug this out’.”

“We as a society should be highly concerned with this clear indication from the government that they have no intention on coming down hard on gangs and their criminal activity.”

© Scoop Media