The Greens are consistent
The only thing surprising about the Greens defending their attendance at a Mongrel Mob hui, is that people were surprised they attended.
The Greens have a very clear view. Co-leader Marama Davidson said “This is not new. It’s not new for the Green Party”[1] and she is right.
Their election justice policy[2] is even more radical than their stance that gangs are legitimate community organisations to engage with.
First of all they propose abolishing life sentences. This means that every murderer in New Zealand would only have a finite sentence, regardless of the severity of their crimes. Even Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people, would get a finite sentence rather than a life sentence without parole.
With the exception of Mr Tarrant, all those who have a life sentence are only eligible for parole if they are not deemed a risk to society. The Green party policy is that they must be released after a finite sentence, regardless of their risk.
But their policy doesn’t stop there. They also wish to ban preventive detention. This is the provision in the Sentencing Act designed to protect the community from recidivist paedophiles and other sexual and violent offenders who are deemed very likely to keep offending. Fewer than 300 New Zealanders have such a sentence.
Not content with abolishing life sentences for murder, the Greens also wish to abolish the restriction on home detention for murder. Home detention is currently only available for those given a sentence of two or less years, and they wish to have it available for everyone, including presumably Mr Tarrant.
Now you might wonder what will happen to people on home detention who break the rules and decide to leave their home? Well the Greens have that sorted also. They want to abolish the practice of sending people to prison for breaching home detention. Instead they want a community-based response.
If under a Green Government someone did manage to get sent to prison, they would of course be eligible for parole. Parole is when you get out early as an incentive to not reoffend. If you obey your parole conditions, you stay free. If you don’t, you may go back to prison.
Now what do the Greens prescribe for people who breach parole? Yep that’s right, not sending people back to prison but another community based response. So once you’re out on parole, you can’t be sent back to prison.
The same ideology applies to bail. If you are charged with committing serious crimes, you may be given bail. So rather than go to prison while you await trial, you are allowed to remain at large on bail but with conditions. The conditions may be not committing any further crimes, or checking in with the Police at certain times. And guess what the Green policy is for bail breaches – yes community based response rather than prison.
They also (along with the Opportunity Party more implicitly) wish to increase the youth justice age from 18 to 25. What this means is that almost all criminals aged between 18 to 24 years old who commit crimes will not go to an adult court where they will face a sentence, but instead go to youth court where they may get a family group conference.
Sadly a very high proportion of crimes are committed by 18 – 24-year-olds.
So again it is no surprise that the Green Party see the Mongrel Mob as a legitimate community organisation whose hui they attended to solicit votes.
What is interesting is that Marama Davidson did say that there were some organisations that were so beyond the pale, they would refuse to engage with them. Was it Black Power, Hells’ Angels? Some other organised crime group?
No it was Destiny Church[3], on the basis they have violent rhetoric.
So violent rhetoric is beyond the pale, but actual violence is not disqualifying.
Marama Davidson also justified the distinction on the basis that Destiny Church has racist rhetoric. Unless I am mistaken the Mongrel Mob often portray the Nazi swastika, and chant sieg heils. Is it not possible that the chant and insignia of a movement that slaughtered six million people on the basis of their race could also be seen as just a teensy bit racist also?
Chris Hipkins has astutely ruled out Green MPs from serving as Police or Corrections Ministers (but not Justice Minister or Attorney-General), but in any Government he leads they are likely to make up between a third and a quarter of his Cabinet, where presumably they will promote their world view that the Mongrel Mob is less harmful than Destiny Church.
For the one thing you can count on the Greens for, is that they will be consistent.
[1] https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics_election-2026/1923070/greens-marama-davidson-doubles-down-amid-outrage-over-gang-visit
[2] https://www.greens.org.nz/justice_policy
[3] https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics_election-2026/1923070/greens-marama-davidson-doubles-down-amid-outrage-over-gang-visit