The Maori Party has likened the plan to ban the wearing of gang patches in Wanganui to the targeting of Jews in World War II.

The comments came during debate in Parliament last night on a proposal by National MP Chester Borrows to ban the wearing of gang insignia in the city and follows the shooting of two-year-old Jhia Te Tua in a gang-related incident in the city last year.

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia opposes the proposal, telling Parliament that like the Jews, members of gangs will be punished for being members of a particular group.

"All this bill does, is to exclude, to suppress, to prohibit, to ban, to close your eyes and put up walls to force our problems out of sight, out of mind."

Mrs Turia says banning people on the basis of what they wear on their back, does not address the real issues.

In 2000, when Mrs Turia was a government minister, she was both praised and condemned for saying that "the holocaust suffered by Maori tribes during the Land Wars needs to be acknowledged".