Page 1690 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 1 April 2009
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Organised crime is increasingly becoming more sophisticated, entrepreneurial and hidden in nature. It is critical for an effective national response that the states and territories work with the Commonwealth in the fight against such crime.
He went on to say:
This is an acknowledgment by the ACT that it is not a stand-alone island within the policing network and that contemporary policing requires law enforcement agencies to carry out investigations that extend beyond jurisdictions.
I will reinforce the point that was made by Mr Wood that the ACT is not a stand-alone island. Some two months later, Mr Wood was again speaking in defence of the Stanhope government’s decision to legislate in line with other jurisdictions. He said:
These changes represent a major restructuring of national law enforcement, among other things, to overcome jurisdictional boundaries that have often hindered the effective investigation of organised crime … If we are to deal effectively with organised crime, jurisdictions cannot operate in isolation.
That is entirely appropriate and consistent with the argument that I am making in relation to our laws and those being enacted in New South Wales. The point is that we are not an island. We are not calling for new laws in response to the media or any sensationalism over recent events or what is currently occurring in the ACT; we are calling for appropriate laws, because the simple reality is that South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and other jurisdictions have either introduced tough laws or are about to, and we are not an island.
In his letter to me yesterday the President of the AFPA said:
The ACT is at risk of becoming an oasis for organised crime syndicates, including but not limited to outlaw motorcycle gangs, if we fail to follow New South Wales’ lead to enact tougher and specific organised crime legislation.
The New South Wales government, New South Wales Police Force and New South Wales Crime Commission have stated that a key area for improving the national response to organised crime would be closing the legislative gaps between jurisdictions which can be exploited by increasingly sophisticated crime syndicates.
He goes on to say:
The AFPA has no doubt that if New South Wales enacts amendments in line with the South Australian organised crime legislation, that organised crime, including outlaw motorcycle gangs, will be further displaced and that the ACT, being located halfway between Adelaide and Sydney, will be a safe haven for organised crime without specific organised crime fighting legislation.
I am not going to argue the specifics of the law here, and I am personally yet to form a view as to exactly which would suit us best, whether it is New South Wales laws,
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