8299 (2025). Shanan Halbert to the Minister of Police

8299 (2025). Shanan Halbert to the Minister of Police: Does the Minister believe Destiny Church should be considered a gang for the purposes of Gangs Act 2024, and if not, why not?

Hon Mark Mitchell: I have not received any advice that Destiny Church meets the requirements to be included in Schedule 2 of the Gangs Act 2024. The behaviour of Man Up has been unacceptable and I am highly motivated to keep everyone in our community safe. However, I find it remarkable that the same party that called for a "robust process" and for the Minister of Police to be making these recommendations "in a well-formed and meaningful way that doesn't overstep those marks [the requirements in the Act]", is now calling for a group to be added to Schedule 2 of the Gangs Act 2024 with no advice or evidence to support a robust, well-formed and meaningful process. It would not be acceptable to anyone if Ministers had the ability to add groups of people that behave in an unacceptable way to Schedule 2 of the Gangs Act without relying on strong evidence before doing so. That Labour is now calling for this to happen, after having raised concerns about that and opposing the legislation, is incredible.