One of the country’s major tow truck firms has hit out at claims made by prime minister Chris Hipkins that “gangs are often involved” in the industry.
Hipkins made the comments in a recent interview on TV3’s The AM Show in response to questions around funding for gangs.
It was recently revealed that Cabinet considered whether to stop government contracts involving funding for gangs in July but chose not to end the policy.
It includes gang-led welfare initiatives like the $2.75 million given from the Proceeds of Crime Fund to the Mongrel Mob to run an anti-meth programme.
When asked why Cabinet decided not the end the policy, Hipkins replied:
“We looked at what kind of programmes would be cut and what kind of government services would be disrupted if we did that.
“On the surface of it, I thought it was a good idea, so we asked for the advice to be put together.
“What we found was that a number of the programmes have actually been quite successful …
“Other examples, the police contract tow truck companies for example, to come and remove vehicles all the time, gangs are often involved in tow truck companies.
“It would have been very difficult for the police, they would have had to identify any tow truck company that had a gang member in it and say we’re not going to contract with that company, it starts to become quite difficult,” Hipkins said.
‘Completely unnecessary’
The comments caught the attention of one major towing company which says it’s “very disappointed”.
Stuart Gerring, general manager of vehicle recovery firm Parks, says the prime minster took a “completely unnecessary swipe at the towing industry that has been heavily regulated for decades”.
He posted his reaction on LinkedIn which has received more than a hundred likes and a number of messages of support.
“Our family-owned business turns 100 years in 2025 and we have held and continue to hold police and government contracts in both the Canterbury and Wellington regions.
“We are proud to employ a team of close to a 100 people of which none are gang members or have affiliations,” Gerring says.
He says his team “are insulted” by the prime minister’s comments.
“As leaders in the industry we deal with the majority of the country’s towing companies and [the prime minster] couldn’t be further from the truth. This is a completely out of touch view,” Gerring says.
Speaking to TransportTalk, Gerring says the industry is “straight up and down” and as far as he’s aware there are no gang connections.
In 2019, police warned the public they were investigating reports of thieves using unmarked tow trucks to steal cars off the street.
Gang involvement was rumoured but that was not confirmed at the time.
Hipkins told TransportTalk his comments were used in response to questions about government contracts.
“The point I was trying to make is that government contracts are provided in many areas, so the issue isn’t as simplistic as the National Party suggests.
“I regret if I caused offence to anyone – it was not intended,” Hipkins says.
