Former All Black Sevens star sentenced on gun charges

A former captain of the All Blacks Sevens and health board official has been sentenced for illegally onselling guns.

Former All Black Matua Parkinson, 49, was also a former licensed firearms owner, but had gone on to sell rifles illegally, police said.

The Tauranga resident appeared in Whakatāne District Court for sentencing on Wednesday, after pleading guilty in June to purchasing guns to sell them to someone without a licence, faking a burglary and then making a false insurance claim.

Parkinson travelled to two different Gun City stores in Auckland in June 2022, where he paid $11,000 to buy five Alfa Carbine rifles - he then supplied the rifles to a person who did not have a firearms license, police said in a statement.

He later reported the guns and his gun safe had been stolen from his property, and made an insurance claim for them - however investigations found evidence that had not happened.

Parkinson had also been a co-owner of the now-closed Creme bar in Mount Maunganui, and hosted Sky TV travel show, Lost in France, and Maori Television's Hunting Aotearoa.

"Parkinson has held high positions of responsibility in the community, including an elected health board official and been captain of the All Blacks Sevens", Detective Inspector Albie Alexander said, and as a firearms license-holder he was required to be a "fit and proper person". But instead, Parkinson had put the public and police officers at risk by illegally selling the rifles, Alexander said.

Police would do everything they could to hold all firearms offenders to account.

"The National Organised Crime Group is aware of multiple examples of sawn-off Alfa Carbine rifles being used to commit crimes, including homicides," Alexander said.

"More than 70 percent of firearms seized from offenders are standard rifles and shotguns, easily obtained by a so-called 'A-Category' licence holder."

During the court case in June, defence lawyer David Pawson said Parkinson had played more than 700 games of rugby and quite a "large portion of those in the black jersey", including time in the Māori All Blacks.

"He's taken quite a few knocks to the head over the years, and this is clearly not a person who is thinking about what he's doing," Pawson said. At the time Judge Louis Bidois questioned whether there was evidence to connect his rugby career to his recent actions, but said any relevant evidence could be submitted before the sentencing.

Parkinson's firearms licence was revoked in 2023, and all firearms removed were from his possession, police said.

"Holding a firearms licence is a privilege reserved for those who follow the law," and the vast majority of licence holders were law meeting their responsibilities, Alexander said.

A new firearms registry was launched in June last year. At the time, it was estimated there were about 240,000 people with firearms licences in the country, and under the new rules meant they were given five years to register their guns.

In January, police said 100,000 guns had been entered into it.

According to the official Hurricanes website, Parkinson joined the team in 2000 as a loose forward, a year after his older brother Reuben.

He also played rugby league in Australia for the Canterbury Bulldogs, as well as for the New Zealand Sevens and the New Zealand Māori team.

The New Zealand Rugby History website says Parkinson also played for the Blues from 2001 until 2002.

He played 83 total games, it says.