Labour's Willie Jackson says it was not a good strategic move for Green and Te Pāti Māori candidates to appear at a Mongrel Mob hui.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has condemned the photos posted by Mongrel Mob life member Harry Tam and Te Pāti Māori MP Oriini Kaipara, and during Wednesday night's leaders’ debate ruled out the Greens and Te Pāti Māori from the police or corrections portfolios, should they enter government.
The photos showed the Greens' Hūhana Lyndon and Michel Mulipola, along with Kaipara and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke from Te Pāti Māori, at a whānau, health, and wellbeing election hui.
National's justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith afterwards said the Greens and Te Pāti Māori were "prioritising" gangs over victims.
Jackson said the party candidates had made a misstep.
"You do not hand the government something, who are absolutely desperate at the moment, desperate, and then all of a sudden you go and have a campaign meeting with the, come on, with the Mob."
Jackson said while Labour and Hipkins "abhor" gangs, Labour was not going to walk away from supporting whānau in gangs.
"Chippy's not saying we're not going to support those families, of course we are. But we want to win an election here."
Jackson said Hipkins "got a bit of a shock", but did the right thing.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson on Thursday defended her candidates for attending the meeting.
Davidson acknowledged people would "want to understand" why the Greens met with the Mongrel Mob, saying over the years she had worked with frontline organisations and experts who had shown how it could be done to support families to turn their lives around.
"We all want communities and families to live safe lives, free of violence and crime."
She said pushing the Mob to the margins was not working - but also acknowledged some victims would be re-traumatised by seeing the photos.
Davidson said the Greens also met victims of violent crime.
"We do consistently, as we meet with people who have been harmed by the decisions of this very government, by the policy decisions to restrict housing support, with young people, we meet with the people who have been harmed by this government every single day."
