Key Takeaways
- New Zealand has banned gang patches in public, but gang identity remains deeply embedded in communities, especially among Māori families.
- Former gang member Lucky Te Koha now works as a Christian pastor, facilitating bi‑monthly check‑in and relationship sessions for Mongrel Mob members and their partners in Hawke’s Bay.
- Lucky’s approach focuses on creating safe spaces for men to voice hidden shame and trauma, viewing vulnerability as a step toward healing intergenerational wounds.
- Academic research links the rise of gangs to historic state‑care abuses, noting that practices in boys’ homes and psychiatric institutions often became prototypes for gang behaviour.
- Lucky’s own experience of abuse in foster care and at Cherry Farm psychiatric hospital informs his empathy and motivates his work with survivors of state and faith‑based care.
- Participants in Lucky’s program, such as Judas, describe breaking cycles of addiction, violence, and incarceration, and many go on to support youth in their communities.
- While the government expands prison capacity and introduces stricter non‑consorting laws, Lucky argues that punitive measures alone do not address the root causes of gang involvement.
- The article concludes with a list of crisis helplines for readers seeking support.
Historical Context of Gang Patches and Membership
In Aotearoa New Zealand, recent legislation has banned the public display of gang patches and other insignia. Despite this visual prohibition, gang identity persists beneath the surface, woven into the fabric of many communities. The Mongrel Mob, one of 38 active gangs, has operated chapters across Hawke’s Bay for more than fifty years, with members referring to Hastings as the “Fatherland.” Nationwide, gang membership has risen to historic highs, surpassing the number of sworn police officers as of February 2024. Government leaders, including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, have framed the crackdown as a necessary step to assert that gangs are “no longer above the law,” introducing expanded police powers, strengthened non‑consorting laws, and prison expansions.
Lucky Te Koha’s Journey from Gangster to Pastor
Lucky Te Koha embodies the complex transition from gang life to faith‑based outreach. After joining his first street gang as a teenager and moving through various groups in adulthood, he experienced a spiritual turning point that led him to become a Christian pastor. Unlike conventional clergy, Lucky swears from the pulpit, rides a motorbike, and gains entry into spaces most church leaders would avoid. He coined the phrase “qualified by experience” (QBE) to describe how his lived past informs his present work, allowing him to speak credibly to men who distrust authority and mainstream services.
The Structure of Lucky’s Hawke’s Bay Program
Every two months, Lucky convenes a session with a Mongrel Mob chapter at a local church in Hawke’s Bay. The gathering begins with check‑in circles for the men, followed by relationship sessions that include their partners. Topics range from addiction and shame to parenting, financial stress, and the pressure of maintaining stability. Lucky encourages participants to voice the experiences they have been taught to keep silent, believing that bringing shame into the light reduces its power, albeit at the cost of vulnerability. This emphasis on openness is intentional, serving as the first step in addressing the intergenerational trauma many men carry.
Understanding the Roots of Gang Trauma
Professor Tracey McIntosh of the University of Auckland’s Te Wānanga o Waipapa highlights a direct line between New Zealand’s gang formation and the state’s historic treatment of Māori youth in care. She observes that practices within boys’ homes and group homes—characterized by cruelty, coercion, complicity, collusion, and compliance—became blueprints for later gang behaviour. For Lucky, this connection is personal; as a young person he endured foster care and later suffered sexual abuse at Cherry Farm, a psychiatric institution near Dunedin. His testimony contributed to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, which documented up to 256,000 victims of abuse or neglect in state and faith‑based settings between 1950 and 2019.
The Gang Hui and Collective Healing
In 2023, a rare gang hui brought together members from various chapters and patch colours, with the Royal Commission invited to attend. The gathering provided a platform for survivors to speak about abuse, trauma, and the failings of the state care system. For Lucky, the hui transformed private shame into a shared narrative, demonstrating that it is possible to be bold and courageous in revealing painful truths. Insights from this event fed into the commission’s 2024 final report and preceded the government’s formal apology in November 2024 to survivors of institutional abuse.
Personal Stories of Change
Judas, a participant in Lucky’s Hawke’s Bay program, illustrates the program’s impact. His mother experienced state care, while his father cycled in and out of prison as a Mongrel Mob member. Judas describes himself as a product of that generation, burdened by unresolved trauma and addiction. After quitting methamphetamine in 2019, he credits Lucky’s sessions with providing accountability and clarity, helping him break the cycle of violence and incarceration. Now a facilitator in a local youth program, Judas guides Māori teenagers toward cultural connection, striving to give his own children a more stable upbringing than he experienced.
Government Response versus Community‑Based Healing
While Lucky works to heal from within, the government’s response leans heavily on punitive measures. Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison is undergoing expansion, adding 316 beds to accommodate more than 700 existing inmates, with nearly 200 Mongrel Mob members currently incarcerated for serious offenses. Lucky acknowledges that individuals must face consequences for their actions but questions what prevents recidivism. He argues that without addressing underlying trauma, addiction, and familial breakdown, expanded prisons merely recycle the same individuals without fostering lasting change.
Resources for Support
The article concludes with a comprehensive list of helplines for readers who may need immediate assistance or ongoing support. Services include Need to Talk (1737), Lifeline, Suicide Crisis Helpline, Depression Helpline, Samaritans, Youthline, What’s Up, Asian Family Services, Rural Support Trust, Healthline, Rainbow Youth, and OUTLine, alongside emergency numbers (111). These contacts underscore the availability of professional help for mental health crises, substance use, family violence, and sexual violence, reinforcing the message that support exists beyond both gang life and institutional settings.