The National Party says crime fighting strategies must include dealing with youth gangs.
Leader John Key is again talking about boot camps for young offenders as all the parties in Parliament react to violence in south Auckland.
"We've got to do something about people who are hanging around in youth gangs and causing problems in communities," he said today.
"And we've got to get tough on the major gangs and deal with drugs."
Mr Key accused Labour of "sitting around for nine years with endless reviews" and promised National would take action.
"With big gangs you can do quite a lot," he said on TV One's Breakfast programme.
"You can give the police much greater powers to listen in on their activities, storm their fortifications, look at breaking the gang culture in prisons."
Mr Key said it should be understood what gangs were.
"They're a front for organised crime, they are people heavily involved in the front end of the manufacture and distribution of drugs -- they're not a group of people who go out for a ride on Sunday afternoon."
Mr Key said the gang problem still existed because the Government had failed to change the laws.
He also said the police should be given Tasers, rather than fully arming the force, and there should be more police on the streets instead of doing office work.
