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Compass - Season Episode 13
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00:17In Aotearoa, New Zealand, gangs are at a crossroads.
00:22The country is home to almost 40 of them, and membership is growing to historic heights.
00:30There are now more gang members than there are police officers in New Zealand, but the
00:35government is trying to stem the tide.
00:38To the gangs, let's say this, you are no longer above the law.
00:42With gang insignia now banned in public right across New Zealand, police are cracking down
00:46on gangs harder than they have before.
00:48We are coming after you, so make better choices.
00:55But in gangs like the mongrel mob and Black Power that have been around for over 50 years,
01:01change is afoot.
01:04Within certain chapters, a quiet reform movement is taking place where the gangs are going to
01:10God for guidance.
01:12In an effort to heal from past trauma and the abuse some faced in state care, gangs are
01:19welcoming an unorthodox preacher into their fold.
01:23He's used to living life outside the law.
01:26In our world, we call it QBE, qualified by experience.
01:29The former gangster, now pastor, is helping mobsters share their stories.
01:35For so long they've been so prone to keeping it on the inside and they're so prone to sharing
01:42those kind of feelings isn't gangster.
01:45I don't like doing this stuff, I really don't.
01:47But if it helps our brothers, I love to help.
01:50Once we share it, it comes out of our puku, out of our stomach, out of the darkness,
01:54and it gets put into the light.
01:56While gangs inflict significant community harm, this is a story about an attempt to deal
02:03with the underlying and pervasive issues that shape crime in New Zealand.
02:08Broken people raise broken kids.
02:11Hurt people hurt people.
02:12But healed people can heal people.
02:16This is Space Homan.
02:34On the south island of Altaroa, just over two hours north of Christchurch,
02:39is a coastal gem.
02:41Kaikota.
02:44It's a getaway spot.
02:46Known for its whale watching, crayfish, and these days the odd bike enthusiast.
02:56It's also home to a New Life church.
02:59A Pentecostal, evangelical, community-based congregation.
03:04It's a church without a dress code that bars none and welcomes all.
03:08A Pentecostal, evangelical, community-based congregation.
03:14Brian O'Connor is their pastor.
03:16A Pentecostal, evangelical, community-based congregation.
03:19But he's not the man who's invited me in today.
03:21A Pentecostal, evangelical, community-based congregation.
03:24I'm here to see Lucky Tekoha.
03:27We've got Lucky coming up.
03:29Everybody excited?
03:30Come, let's give him a clap.
03:34It's good to be with you all.
03:36I don't need to turn my hat around.
03:38You're right.
03:39Lucky was ordained as a minister in 2019, but he's far from your typical preacher.
03:45I'm not the man that left here eight and a half years ago that was angry, frustrated,
03:49violent, with addictions and everything wrong.
03:52I was living a life of high crime and it was secret.
03:57People didn't know me.
03:59People didn't know my story.
04:01Now he shares it in gang clubhouses and churches.
04:05I was looking for a better way to live.
04:07I wanted to change my life.
04:09Brian, I've got to hug you.
04:10That's when he met Brian.
04:12I've mentored him from the start and he was wild and loose and angry.
04:17He's just angry a lot with God and everything, but he's, you know, he's been teachable.
04:26Lucky's message is one of imperfection, a pastor that's a living work in progress.
04:32Do you guys go to church ever?
04:33I do sometimes.
04:34And if you're a real man and you take correction, things will change.
04:39Because correction is about love, when we correct people.
04:43I invite him to speak because he brings a different gospel that we kind of haven't heard.
04:50A lot of the time, Christians, preachers are very polished, but Lucky brings a very challenging word.
04:59Lucky believes he was called by God to work with the types of groups he was once a part of,
05:05the gangs.
05:06Because honestly, the world that I've just come back from, to come back here, was with the worst people in
05:12this country, some would say.
05:15You know, I'm around broken men with the brokenness that I came from.
05:19Amazing people in here.
05:20It's time to get into the game, get things into order and start serving and start leading where you can.
05:40Since becoming a pastor, Lucky has reflected on the path that led him into a life of crime.
05:47He was born during the same decade that the Hells Angels first opened a chapter in New Zealand.
05:54And other groups soon followed.
05:55People are shocked that seeing young people wear this, they don't like it at all.
05:59We want to be different.
06:01By the time Lucky was a teenager in the 80s, outlaw motorcycle clubs and homegrown street gangs had built a
06:08reputation for violence and antisocial behaviour.
06:12Among them, the two biggest, Black Power and the Mungerob.
06:19Lucky joined different gangs before eventually graduating to a more organised crime group.
06:27Why did you join a gang?
06:30Well, my home life was no good.
06:32Home life was, ugh.
06:35And there were some guys that I knew that were older than me.
06:39You know, they were cool.
06:41And so, brothers that took me in, you know, cared about me.
06:44Well, I thought they cared about me.
06:46And they always treated me good.
06:48And then, you know, I just thought, no, this is where I fit.
06:52So it was like a sense of belonging?
06:54My family didn't.
06:56Well, mainly my father didn't want me.
06:59He was an alcoholic.
07:01You know, he was drinking all the time.
07:02He was a bad drunk.
07:03Used to beat our mother.
07:05Beat me.
07:07He was just a hard and tough man on people.
07:11As a punishment, when Lucky was seven, his father shot his dog.
07:16I was never the same after that day.
07:21I was angry, eh?
07:25And I just, hell, hated him.
07:27I just hated him with everything in me.
07:30And so then we moved.
07:32And we moved down a little to the North Island, Palmerston North.
07:37And so I struggled through school there.
07:39I started getting in trouble a little bit.
07:42And then I was sexually abused by an older kid down there.
07:53And he sexually abused quite a few of us.
07:56We were quite a lot younger than him.
07:58And, um, I knew who the kid was.
08:04And, uh...
08:07I started running away.
08:10Yeah.
08:13After that, Lucky rarely came home or turned up to class.
08:17Eventually, he ended up in foster care.
08:20When I got sent to foster care,
08:22I didn't even know why I was really there.
08:25Because I hadn't done anything wrong.
08:27That's what, that's what got me.
08:30Was, why am I here?
08:32What have I done?
08:35When he got to high school, he faced racism.
08:39And South Island was very white.
08:41And very racist.
08:43I spent my whole time fighting.
08:47In his early teens, Lucky joined his first gang and started getting into trouble.
08:52By 16, he was using Homebake, a homemade opioid.
08:57It just gave me some peace.
08:59It just gave me a block for a moment.
09:02For a period of time, the thoughts that I was dealing with were gone.
09:07Lucky was sliding deeper into crime, and it put him on a path to prison.
09:12Instead, he spent time at a psychiatric institution called Cherry Farm.
09:18I was dreading going there.
09:21We all knew about it.
09:25Yeah, it was a, it was a horrible place.
09:33Went back there last year.
09:38It's a creepy place.
09:39It was creepy then.
09:42I was petrified here.
09:45I'm not saying I was an angel, I don't know that.
09:50This brings back ugly, ugly memories.
09:58I was going to this unit that I was in.
10:02The abuse in this place was, honestly, it's next level.
10:08I can't believe that this place is still even here.
10:10I just...
10:12It's a big place, and I just...
10:15Nothing good happened in this place, I'll tell you.
10:18Nothing.
10:25Yeah, I was sexually abused in there.
10:29Did you tell the staff about the things that were going on and what...
10:34Yeah, but they didn't care.
10:36It made no difference.
10:38Nothing changed.
10:49Lucky is just one of thousands of New Zealanders who suffered abuse in the state care system.
10:56His experience now shapes the way he works with other survivors and their children who were also affected by that
11:03trauma.
11:05A few years ago, in a rare event, gangs of different colours turned up to a forum in Auckland.
11:13Some shared their own stories.
11:16Others were there in solidarity.
11:20It was a part of a Royal Commission into Abuse in Care.
11:26The Commission examined institutions across the country, including boys' homes and psychiatric hospitals.
11:33In 2024, it delivered its findings.
11:38It estimated that up to a quarter of a million people were abused or neglected in state or faith-based
11:45care between 1950 and 2019.
11:49You know, it's an astonishing to think about that period and think about it as this sort of undocumented, but
12:00perhaps widely known national stain on New Zealand.
12:07Professor Tracey McIntosh compiled survivor testimonies that spanned decades.
12:12An overwhelming element of the inquiry is just the nature of the abuse, how widespread it was, and how little
12:22was done over 50 years, where children were trying to tell their stories.
12:27The Royal Commission's final report acknowledged the link between state care and gang life.
12:33So I think it's impossible to look in the New Zealand situation at the formation of gangs without recognising the
12:40really significant state engagement, state involvement in the in-gang formation.
13:11We're truly grateful to be here today.
13:14Father, we give all praise and glory to you.
13:17Forgive us for some of the bad things that we may have done in our lives.
13:21For we come here to speak into the spirit to heal, to speak our truth, to speak into your truth,
13:27and to speak into your spirit.
13:29So, Father, this is our prayer to you.
13:32Amen.
13:37You draw from a deep, dark well of experience.
13:43So I recognise you here as survivors, and we honour those who did not survive.
13:49Because you know what the thing is? The thing is, it was always made to be our shame.
13:54Our shame.
13:54Our shame.
13:56My shame.
13:58I never talked about it.
14:00It took me years, years, to be able to say it.
14:04Because it was always a shame.
14:07You know, what would people think?
14:10You know?
14:12Lucky shared his experience privately with the Commission, and some of the participants in his programs also shared theirs.
14:20It's quite a big thing for me, because I, myself, was pretty much raised in state care from a few
14:26months old, taken off my parents.
14:28And, you know, it was pretty horrible, eh?
14:31Like, growing up in there, it's, yeah, I wouldn't wish it on anybody, really.
14:36James has been involved in Lucky's workshops for several years.
14:40I was only probably about eight years old, and just due to my trauma in the homes and that I'd
14:46suffered, you know,
14:46I was ready to top myself, you know, and I was only eight and, you know, your kids shouldn't be
14:51thinking about that, you know.
14:53It shouldn't even cross his mind.
14:54I want to acknowledge all of you who were neglected, who were not loved, who continue to live with the
15:05impacts of those dreadful experiences.
15:09In November of 2024, the New Zealand Government made a formal and unreserved apology to survivors.
15:18Oh God.
15:21I'm going to get to know you.
15:26I don't know you are a nephew, I'm a nephew,
15:39I'm a nephew, I'm a nephew.
15:56Five hours southeast of Auckland, wedged between the country's apple orchards, is Hastings and Flaxmere.
16:03It's home to a vibrant, tight-knit community with a strong faith base and a deep cultural pride.
16:12This neighbourhood is also home to a notorious street gang.
16:17New Zealand's biggest gang is the mongrel mob.
16:20And right now I'm driving through what many consider as their spiritual birthplace.
16:25This is the fatherland.
16:30For over 50 years the gang has operated several chapters around Hawke's Bay, becoming part of the fabric of the
16:38community.
16:40I'm here to see the work that Lucky is doing with them first hand, and meet the men involved.
16:47Some have committed violent offences, but I want to understand how their past may have impacted their actions.
16:55This is the first time they've allowed television cameras into their chapter.
17:00We are the mongrel mob, however we're governed by chapter or by Borom Roka.
17:07And there's over 50 I'd say in the country that have their own leader and their own systems.
17:14Jester is a senior member of the group.
17:16Since a ban on gang patches was introduced, it's rare to see him in uniform.
17:22You're not allowed to wear this up to the shops anymore or outside of private property, is that right?
17:27Yes.
17:29What's all that about?
17:30It's a ban, patch ban.
17:32But I mean, it doesn't really affect us.
17:35We know who we are, we know what we are, we know what we stand for.
17:39So whether we wear it or not, it's instilled in us, it's instilled in our everyday lives and the things
17:44that we do.
17:59Lucky works with Jester and this chapter every two months in a local church.
18:07And I've been doing these, you know, as most of you probably know, most weekends for the last seven years.
18:13Session one is a mental health check-in with the men and session two is with their partners.
18:19I've been allowed to listen in.
18:21According to it all tonight is, you know, what are we finding challenging at the moment?
18:25I guess for me, heaps of challenges, heaps of challenges.
18:29Right now it's just trying to stay consistent with being a good father, being a good husband, being a good
18:38brother.
18:39Millie has been in the Mungra mob for six years, Tark's for seven.
18:44Me and my partner are working and we're still struggling, but we're getting by.
18:50I almost broke up two weeks ago, yeah.
18:54I don't really want to talk about it but yeah, it's a big struggle.
18:58What's the type of stuff that you want them to be able to share?
19:01There's a scripture, James 5, 16.
19:03It says, confess our sins to one another, pray for one another that you may be healed.
19:07The prayer of a righteous person has great power.
19:09So for me, that's where it's at.
19:11And if we talk about our challenges and what we've been struggling with, openly with our brothers, then they know
19:17what's going on in your life.
19:19And it's no longer in the darkness anymore, it's out in the open.
19:22And so shame lifts, but it costs you vulnerability.
19:26Once we share it, it comes out of our puku, out of our stomach, out of the darkness, and it
19:30gets put into the light.
19:31You think everything is good, but, you know, behind closed doors, I'll always love my father.
19:47But, you know, the journeys you see your mother go through.
19:54Generational trauma and addiction are common issues that come up.
19:57I was in a bad place in my life. I was on the meth and all the things, you know,
20:02my life was shit, you know, it's just broken.
20:04You know, I was lost. I had all these ideas and all this thing, and then I was just clouded
20:09by smoke and dreams and it was all fake.
20:14One of the stated aims of the sessions is to keep members out of trouble.
20:19Back in the days I was a bad man. I wouldn't be locked up right now if I didn't attend
20:26these.
20:34Just down the road at Hawke's Bay Regional Prison, almost 200 mongrel mob members are serving time for a range
20:41of serious offences.
20:44It's not unique to this mob or the area.
20:48Across the country, gang affiliates make up just over a third of the prison population.
20:54And soon there'll be room for more.
21:04New Zealand already has one of the highest incarceration rates in the developed world.
21:09And at prisons like this one, they are expanding to hold even more inmates.
21:15It was built to hold around 750 prisoners.
21:18And by the time they finish, they'll have over 300 more beds.
21:37Gister knows what it's like to be confined to a cell, but he's mainly done time in home detention for
21:44various offences.
21:45You did time for it.
21:46Yeah.
21:48Are you saying you served your time?
21:51Yeah.
21:51And since then, what's happened?
21:56Age, time, I'm a father.
21:59I'm a lot clearer in the way that I think.
22:02I'm not a drug addict anymore.
22:04There'll be blokes here who've probably been caught with possession to supply.
22:09Yeah.
22:09Different.
22:10Yeah.
22:11Bringing drugs into the community.
22:14You'll find all sorts here.
22:16But if you look at the time difference from then to now, you know.
22:21Lucky's role is limited to what happens inside the sessions.
22:25You're all right, brother.
22:26You know, we're here for you.
22:28So while they can provide support, they don't guarantee accountability.
22:32I know that whatever crime they've done, no matter how bad it is, I always think, what's happened to you?
22:39Why are you there like that?
22:41I'm not trying to let them off.
22:43You've got to pay the price for what your action's done.
22:45But what led you there?
22:47What's going to stop you from going back there?
22:49Is there people in your life, through the way you may have been living, who were impacted by your decisions
22:58and your behaviour?
23:01I feel like, yes, there's many people that love me and that have put a lot of trust and loyalty
23:08into me that I have impacted from some of my decisions.
23:11So I do regret some of the decisions that I've made as I haven't known any better in some areas.
23:20It's impacted my partner, my kids.
23:24It's, you know, just for me not being able to be an actual good man in previous times.
23:32I'm just a big believer of learning from my mistakes and trying not to repeat them.
23:36In the last seven to eight years, I've come a very long way.
23:40You know, I've changed many things in my life, many old habits, old patterns.
23:46I've been me free for over six years now.
23:48For some members, the chance to reflect has been enough to spark something.
23:54I'm a person that was brought up in the church, eh?
23:56So, and ever since a baby.
24:01So, but I've never ever had the opportunity to open up like that, ever.
24:07Ever in my life.
24:10From here on, it's up to them to put their words into action.
24:14And then now I get to pass this on to my kids and start a different cycle where my kids
24:19can come and open up to me.
24:22My son gets a healed version of a father that I never had.
24:26My son lives in a safe home.
24:29My number one goal is to show them value and purpose.
24:34When you have those two things, you've got the remedy to want to change.
24:38The will to want to change.
24:39When you see value and purpose.
24:51Back on the South Island, in the quiet coastal township of Kaikota, there's a rumble.
25:03Lucky's invited a motley crew to the local pub for a bike meet.
25:06Anyway, I'm lucky.
25:07Lucky?
25:08Yeah, you're lucky.
25:09Save nine grand.
25:11And it's attracted a decent turnout.
25:14I know.
25:15With steeds of all shapes and sizes.
25:24The Kingdom Brotherhood, Lucky's Christian Biker Ministry, are here too.
25:30They're the men who work alongside him in the gang space.
25:34Where's the trike?
25:37Not here.
25:37Yeah, but where's the chuck?
25:38It's a mix that shows the world's Lucky now moves between.
25:42Church goers, bikies, and gang members.
25:48All in the same place.
25:50I think we're all called to go into different places.
25:53Lucky's obviously found his jam and yeah, I don't know if I'd have a hooey with some mobsters.
25:59We're here to support the Kingdom Brotherhood and what they're doing within the communities.
26:04So for us, it's about reaching everyone, but the people that most people might be a bit scared to go
26:12and have a yarn to.
26:13You've got first, second and third.
26:15So one of you is going to bum out and get knowing.
26:17All right.
26:18Who's got the ace?
26:20I think sometimes people's lives are being saved.
26:22I think families have been saved.
26:24And yeah, I think it's keeping, it's getting people right.
26:29Oh no!
26:31To fund the work he does, he relies on donations from church and community members.
26:37We're working with thousands of men right across the country.
26:39So I just want to thank you for coming and being a part of it and supporting us.
26:59The next day, Lucky's back at church and he's reminding the brethren of the mission that he's on.
27:06Matthew 541, where he instructs, if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them too.
27:12This is in the coalface, out there it is.
27:15And you have to go to the coalface and it is dirty and it is dangerous and it is.
27:18It's work that people don't want to do.
27:20But you have to go, you have to go and reach them at their space where they're at.
27:23The whole point of what I do, I'm motivated to do it for the children.
27:27So I keep thinking back to how it was for me.
27:30And there was nothing available.
27:32And I come from generations of that era of just broken men, broken kids.
27:39I think we can all do better.
27:41And I think kids deserve better.
28:07To be continued...
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