Patched gang members were among attendees at a Hawke's Bay Regional Council meeting which unanimously voted to retain Māori constituencies, sparking a celebratory haka. Photo / Hawke's Bay Regional Council
Patched gang members were among attendees at a Hawke's Bay Regional Council meeting which unanimously voted to retain Māori constituencies, sparking a celebratory haka. Photo / Hawke's Bay Regional Council
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council will now enforce the ban on patched gang members inside council buildings after facing backlash.
Council chief executive Nic Peet told the Herald the plan was to erect signs instructing “no patches allowed”.
“In future we will provide signage that gang insignia must be removed on our building entrance,” he said.
“Enforcement if people do not comply would likely need the support of the police.”
Peet also said council members were not trained to deal with groups of gang members, and they’ve “never previously had to deal with this issue”.
“The council meeting on Māori constituencies was already well under way when people wearing insignia arrived.”
“Stopping the meeting and attempting to remove people with insignia or call the police would likely have escalated a situation that was not threatening.”
Council chairwoman Hinewai Ormsby acknowledged that posting the members in regalia celebrating on the official council Facebook page “wasn’t a good move”.
Ormsby said the council would insist members keep their regalia in the car next time they visited local government premises.
Ormsby said no one was intimidated or felt scared by the presence of the patches or members.
“It was a very calm environment.”
However, as the patches are illegal, she said she understands the need for more robust security measures.
“We don’t have a policy around banning gang patches, but we need to have one now.”
Patched gang members were among attendees at a Hawke's Bay Regional Council meeting which unanimously voted to retain Māori constituencies, sparking a celebratory haka. Photo / Hawke's Bay Regional Council
But the decision was overshadowed by backlash over a Facebook post featuring photos of patched gang members celebrating the decision in its council chambers.
The Facebook post released by the council soon after featuring photos of patched gang members celebrating the decision has been met with frustration from Simeon Brown, who is surprised a current patch ban was not enforced at a meeting.
Members of the public also hit the comments section with concerns about the presence of gang members in the meeting.
“Mostly thought it a complete embarrassment that our council have them at a decision-making meeting, and then advertise it!?” one person wrote.
Brown said gang patches are already banned in public buildings.
“Gang insignia should not be on display in a council chamber ... as Minister of Local Government, I expect councils to uphold the law,” he said.
Associate Minister of Justice David Seymour also told the Herald, “this is exactly the sort of out of touch behaviour Kiwis are sick of”.
“This display shows exactly why Act’s coalition commitment for Hawke’s Bay residents to have their say by secret ballot is so important.
“It also shows a council with seriously out-of-touch priorities, a very good example of councils not focusing on their core job,” he said.
The Hawke's Bay Regional Council meeting where a decision was made on Wednesday to retain the council's two Māori wards. Photo / Hawke's Bay Regional Council
Earlier, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council justified its decision in the Facebook comments.
“We acknowledge that seeing gang paraphernalia can be distressing to some people, and we appreciate your feedback on our post,” it said.
“Regional Council meetings are open to all members of the public and our post is a factual record of this meeting. We do not have the authority to exclude members of the public who are following our meeting rules.”
Following inquiries by NZME, the council has now deleted its photo and comment justifying gang paraphernalia being allowed into chambers.
Speaking with Hawke’s Bay Today on Wednesday afternoon, Ormsby had just finished the meeting, which included two other items of public interest, and hadn’t seen the photo posted on the council’s Facebook page.
But she said that in the inclusive environment in which the council operates she welcomed the public engagement, saying it was the biggest she had ever seen in the council chambers - bigger even than when the council discussed the Māori Wards issue in 2021.
“It was open to the public and we invite anyone to attend our meetings,” she said, adding the response was “part of being in public office”.
“It’s an important issue, it was calm and peaceful, there was laughter, and theatre, and haka and waiata,” she said.
“It was great to see,” she said, hoping that the level of engagement might be reflected in the 2025 local body elections, given the concerns in recent years about low voter turnout.
