Labour deputy leader Kelvin Davis says the tough on gangs policies of a number of Opposition parties this election ignore the role the government played in creating gangs – and its responsibility for coming up with positive solutions.

The Corrections Minister says many Māori have ended up in gangs after being taken away from their homes by the state through no fault of their own and put in homes where they were abused.

While the reasons people join gangs may have changed, that legacy of the 1960s and 70s remains.

“I think there needs to be more understanding, more talk and more discussion. Looking a the reason people are in gangs these days, I think the reasons have probably evolved, but we have go to as Government try to create the conditions where people don’t feel the need to join gangs rather than ‘you’re in a gang, you’re a bad person, you should be in jail,’” Mr Davis says.