Auckland (The NZ Today)
Just hours after Chris Hipkins said he had accepted Labour candidate Kerrin Leoni’s assurance that she had not visited a Mongrel Mob pad, video has emerged showing her campaigning at an event attended by Mongrel Mob members.
Leoni, Labour’s candidate in Tāmaki Makaurau, has since acknowledged attending the gathering but maintains it was a whānau event, not a gang pad visit.
“I have close whānau who are gang members,” she said in a Facebook statement, adding that some of those present at the early-October function were gang members.
The Post has reported the event was promoted as a gang fundraiser.
National has seized on the footage, with campaign chair Simeon Brown questioning whether Leoni knew the nature of the event and whether any fundraising took place between Labour and gang members.
There is currently no public evidence that money was exchanged between Labour and the Mongrel Mob.
The development puts renewed pressure on Hipkins, who has spent recent days criticising Green and Te Pāti Māori politicians for visiting a Mongrel Mob pad and has told Labour candidates not to campaign at gang premises.
Hipkins did not take questions on the latest footage at a Labour event on Thursday evening and is expected to address the matter on Friday.
Source: NZ Herald
