The gang problem in New Zealand is totally out of control. It is all pervasive and almost impossible to avoid. Unlike other problems like poverty, which the government has mainly managed to keep out of the rich areas, the gangs now infiltrate every suburb. It is time to identify them and replace welfare with warfare.

Some people are worried about how we identify them. I’m not. Even when they aren’t wearing items that overtly advertise their affiliation you can still identify them. The members. All men. I’ve heard rumours some chapters allow women but it’s still pretty rare. The women who do make it as members are largely tokenistic but I heard from friend, who had a cousin who knew one, say that they are worse than the males. Anyway, as I was saying, even when they are all suited, Working Style tip to brogue-ed toe, you can still tell. It might be subtle but somewhere there will be a badge or an insignia on a tie. Sometimes it’s a ring. But it’s not just the clothes. It’s the way they walk. In groups like they own the streets. The way that look at me. Like they want to rip my clothes off and …it’s just plain intimidating. I cross the road. I try not to catch their eye. They have no respect for women. I used to work in hospitality. I’ve heard how they talk. The strip clubs and the brothels.

They are the worst.

As for the women or the old  ladies as they call them, I ran into some this week. I was in Kingsland. There were four of them ahead of me in the queue for coffee. It was probably straight after the school run. I smelt them before I saw them. Reeking of stale wine they moved with their own miasma of cheap Pinot Gris. All clad in their too tight Lululemon and flashy trainers. Talking too loud, trying too hard. Scary though. They were tough. Hard. You could see life hadn’t been easy. They didn’t look, or smell happy. Still, they have made their bed as the saying goes.

Of course it’s the children I really feel sorry for. I mean you don’t choose your parents. There must be something we, as a society, can do? The way they dress them up and the stupid haircuts. They don’t stand a chance. It’s well known they drug them. There are surveys. Stats. Pills mainly from what I’ve heard. Anti-depressant’s and Ritalin. Everyone knows that Ritalin is just the gateway to meth. They probably just get the kids prescribed so they can use them as a precursor. They break them down and turn them into little bags of designer drugs with a street value of billions.

The whole family dynamic is just wrong. The kids have no chance and the women are trapped. I agree if the women want help to leave it should be available but many of them don’t even want to. That shouldn’t stop us trying to save the kids. Studies show that the rate of domestic violence and child abuse is through the roof. I know this is shocking but my hairdresser knows a couple of the woman. They have been her clients for years.

She calls them the Rotary Ho’s.

That’s why I support the governments initiative of a Gang Intelligence Centre. With 1 in 3 women in NZ experiencing physical and/ or sexual violence from a partner we have wasted enough time. Family violence is estimated to cost between $4 billion and $7billion a year. The gangs are also costing us money. A recent report put it at $700 million. I think that’s probably low. That also only reflects social welfare payments. It doesn’t calculate the revenue lost in tax evasion, property speculation and wrapped up in family Trusts.

Whatever we spend on the Gang Intelligence Centre is worth it if addresses our appalling rates of family violence. Let’s investigate all gangs. No one should be spared. Let’s start with the biggest; Rotary, Lions, Masons and of course the major players, the Police and the Churches.

Family violence, abuse and neglect occur in all our towns and our suburbs. So do gangs. It’s not okay.