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Story: Gangs

Government approach to gangs

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Government approach to gangs

In 2008 John Key, leader of the opposition, stated that if National won power they would crack down on gangs. This May 2008 cartoon took a dig at local councils and the two main political parties, implying that gangs were getting away with criminal behaviour. However, in the 1990s and 2000s, National and Labour governments, as well as local authorities, actually took a harder-line approach to gangs and organised crime.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: DCDL-0006534

by James Hubbard

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Greg Newbold and Rāwiri Taonui, Gangs – Gangs and society, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/cartoon/28260/government-approach-to-gangs (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Greg Newbold and Rāwiri Taonui, published 30 March 2011, reviewed and revised 2 October 2018 with assistance from Jarrod Gilbert, updated 1 April 2020.