South Australia to Introduce Tough Anti-Bikie Laws
Friday 5 June 2015 @ 12.17 p.m. | Crime
South Australian Attorney General John Rau has spearheaded the introduction into Parliament of proposed laws that would treat criminal organisations with similar measures as Commonwealth laws that target terrorist organisations. Mr. Rau has defended the laws amidst criticism from law experts who assert that the laws would eventually face a High Court challenge if passed.
The Proposed Laws
The proposed laws would ban two or more gang members meeting in public or members entering licensed premises while displaying club colours and logos. The laws will directly affect ten existing clubs in South Australia and a further seventeen interstate clubs if and when they should cross the border into South Australia. Mr. Rau says:
"The Commonwealth Parliament has used a similar method to this, to deal with groups like Al Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah and other groups…It says in the legislation these groups are unsatisfactory groups, and people who are members of these groups have certain aspects of their liberty constrained."
Mr. Rau further defends the laws by insisting that it will only target club members in club outfit and that if members appear in plain clothes, they are more than welcome to attend licensed premises as regular patrons. "If you turn up as a civilian, then that's not a problem. You can have drink like anybody else," he said.
He explains that the laws will only prevent intimidation to the public brought about by the display of club colours and logos. He explains:
"The modus operandi for these people is, they know that the public identifies with certain symbols ... as demonstrating that these people are members of a particular group…They use those symbols to intimidate and frighten people ... people are fearful of doing anything that might upset them, for fear of bringing the whole lot of their friends down on them as well."
Criticism
The FREE Australia Party has described the proposed laws as ‘ludicrous’. The party was originally set up to align with Motorcycle gangs and oppose anti-bikie measures that were spearheaded by former Labor premier Mike Rann in 2008. The party had previously fought against bikie laws in Queensland and is now prepared to fight again in South Australia.
State president Sarah Mcpherson claimed that the laws were unjust and unnecessary. She says:
"If you happen to go to a friend's birthday party, and there might be two other members there with their families, well, then they're going to be charged…”
However, this is only true if the members attend the birthday party in club colours and logos as outlined by Mr. Rau. Were they to attend in normal civilian attire, they would not fall within the ambit of the proposed laws.
University of Adelaide Litigation Law Unit director David Caruso has expressed his concerns that the laws essentially remove the judiciary’s involvement in declarations about motorcycle gangs. He highlights that such arbitrary laws would essentially erode the judiciary’s decision making authority. He says:
"It's easy to become concerned by the operations of what is labelled serious and organised crime within the community…But the community is best protected by ensuring that our processes for the administration of justice are rigorous, fair and transparent, and that's achieved by ensuring the decision makers are members of the judiciary."
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