NATS FAULT HANDLING OF DRUGS AND GANGS

The National Party says the Government's admission that it is losing
the war against methamphetamine is because it has failed to do
anything substantive to tackle gangs.

Justice Minister Annette King has conceded authorities are struggling
to halt the spread of "P".

The concession is made in a Cabinet paper that also argues for a
legislative crackdown on access to the chemicals.

But National MP Simon Power said the Government had rejected or
deferred measures to tackle gangs, including backing off on a new
offence directed at people who orchestrated the activities of those
who committed crimes.

Ms King, as police minister, had not recommended to the Cabinet any
law change that would make it easier for police to destroy gang
fortifications.

The Government had rejected most proposals for dealing with
intimidation from the presence of gang members in a public place, he
said.

This issue was widely canvassed after the shooting of two-year-old
Jhia Te Tua when Mongrel Mob members attacked the house where she
lived with her mother and Black Power-member father.

Banning insignia was regarded as too broad a brush as it would capture
many other groups in the net. Mr Power said the Government was
deferring for up to a year other proposals that included:

Restricting gang access to legal mechanisms such as limited liability
companies and incorporated societies.

Enabling undercover police to testify in a wider range of organised
crime trials.

Tighter controls on the availability of precursor chemicals for drug
manufacture.

These proposals were included in the Cabinet paper issued early last
month when Ms King unveiled the details of the proposed Organised
Crime Agency. In the paper, Ms King recommended a new regime within a
year of the establishment of the new agency, which will begin work on
July 1.

The estimated $750 million to $1.5 billion retail trade in
methamphetamine had clear links with "domestic and international
organised crime", she said.

Efforts to reduce the availability of methamphetamine and prevent the
diversion of pseudoephedrine into the manufacturing of
methamphetamines did not appear to have affected the price, purity or
availability of methamphetamine, Ms King said. Additional approaches
being considered included measures to prevent the diversion of
pseudoephedrine-bearing medicines into the illegal manufacture of
methamphetamine.

Comprehensive mandatory controls aimed at limiting gangs' access to
precursor chemicals were needed, she said.