Luxon defends Potaka on photo with gang members

Christopher Luxon says it would be "disingenuous" to say a photo circulating online of National MP Tama Potaka posing with gang members is the same as images of Labour, Green and Te Pāti Māori MPs.Labour candidate for Tamaki Makaurau, Kerrin Leoni, resigned on Friday after video and an image of her campaigning in party attire, and posing with Mongrel Mob members at a fundraising event were published online.Initially Labour leader Chris Hipkins had backed Leoni saying she was at a family event with some of her whanau who are gang members.But after a video circulated online on Thursday night Hipkins said it became untenable for Leoni to stay on as a candidate as she had not provided the full story of what had happened.Earlier this month Hipkins had distanced himself from Green and Te Pāti Māori MPs and candidates who had attended an election hui at a gang pad and posed for photos with Mongrel Mob members.On Saturday Luxon was asked whether he was aware of any images of his MPs or candidates posing with gang members and whether he would consider that acceptable given his tough criticism of opposition MPs and candidates.Luxon said he hadn't seen any images himself but was aware one was doing the rounds of MP and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka."He's not campaigning, he's not fundraising, he's not raising funds for the Mongrel Mob," Luxon told reporters."And go talk to Tama - he's very much against gangs, like the rest of us in the National Party.""I think it'd be disingenuous to suggest that they are equivalent images that we've seen."Luxon suggested media speak to Potaka, saying, "you'll get a very clear view from him about what's happened around crime and law and order"."He represents an area in Hamilton that was very challenged … he understands the suffering that people have gone through, and he doesn't think gangs are good for society."Potaka told RNZ the photo was taken at a "very public hui," organised by the Kiingitanga in January 2024."There were literally thousands of people there. A person I went to school with asked me for a photo, and I didn't want to create too much fuss. And the photo was taken," he said."That's about two and a half years ago, and well in advance of the gang pad patch ban being implemented, of course. Very different circumstances to what we've got today."Asked if he was surprised to see the photo now being circulated the way it had, Potaka again said it was "very different circumstances" to Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori, who he accused of trying to "curry some favour" from the gangs.He would not say if he would get a photo with that person he went to school with again, only that a gang patch ban was now in place and National had been "very deliberate and intentional" about making its position clear."We don't support gangs or the violence that often goes with them, whereas other parties are."But Hipkins said National should be held to its own standards.Speaking to media at Queensgate Mall in Lower Hutt, Hipkins said Luxon had made gangs a "huge issue" during the election campaign."He now needs to answer why he thinks National MPs should be held to a different standard to the standard he demands of others," he said.While Luxon hadn't spoken to Potaka about the photo or its origins, National MP and Police Minister Mark Mitchell had.Te Pāti Māori MP Oriini Kaipara, with Green candidates Hūhana Lyndon and Michel Mulipola, Te Whatanui Skipwith (far right) Ōtāhuhu Green Party candidate, along with the Mongrel Mob's Harry Tam and other members.Supplied / FacebookMitchell was at Saturday's media conference with Luxon and asked to speak to the issue."Tama was at an event three years ago, it was at the Kiingitanga for an event there when that photo was taken."He wasn't campaigning. He wasn't engaging gang members to ask them to get organised to vote for the National Party - in fact, he was probably getting a hard time because we were implementing our gang legislation," Mitchell told reporters."There is a big difference between being at a public event and attending a public event and having gang members approach you. I've had gang members approach me at public events."There's a big difference between that and fronting up to a gang fundraiser or a gang pad to try and ingratiate yourself with those gang members to actively campaign and try and get them to campaign and vote against a government that has made this country much safer, that has made it much harder to be a gang member in our country, and we will continue to do that," Mitchell said.On why Potaka posed for the photo Mitchell speculated that he was trying to be "respectful and not create a scene"."We get thousands of photos every day of people in a public place. We don't know every individual. We don't know their background. We don't know their history. That's just the nature of public life."There is a huge difference between that and actively going to a gang pad or a or a function organised by the gangs, a fundraiser by the rogue chapter that's very well known for violence and for peddling meth, and going along there in your party attire with your signage, standing up and actively campaigning, there is a huge difference, and I think the public can work that out very quickly," Mitchell said.Hipkins was also asked whether he had ever taken a photo with a gang member."Couldn't say. Quite possibly. I mean, how would you know, some of the time?"Mongrel Mob life member Harry Tam had posted a photo on social media of Hipkins and a man Tam said is a gang member. Tam's post called Hipkins "two face" and accused him of poor judgement. The man in the photo was not wearing a patch.Asked about the photo, Hipkins said he could not recall it."It could have been some time ago. I've been a member of Parliament for 18 years," he said."How would you know, I mean, we're about to go for a walk through a shopping mall, where we'll have hundreds of photos, how would you know who they are?"Hipkins said the saga had "absolutely not" tanked Labour's campaign.