Page 2303 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 August 2016
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bill. The bill is designed to ensure that the police and the territory’s criminal justice system have up-to-date tools to target and disrupt serious and organised criminal activity in the territory. The bill reforms a number of pieces of the ACT’s criminal law in a number of significant ways with a primary focus on addressing serious crimes. In particular, the amendments provide our police with improved capability to deal with criminal gangs and to protect our community from the illegal activity which is undertaken by these groups.
When I first introduced the bill in June this year I provided the Assembly with some information about the context within which we, as a government, have been developing this legislation. I will not delve into that detail again but I think it is important to note that the government remains concerned about the level of outlaw motorcycle gang activity in the territory and, in particular, the increasing diversity of criminal gangs in the jurisdiction. We have gone from a situation where we have one relatively benign group to four groups who are now undertaking their activity in the community.
In addition to that, whilst the total number of people is small, they have a disproportionate influence on the level of organised criminal activity in the territory that belies their absolute numbers. They are involved in drug dealing, drug distribution and money laundering. They are involved in standover tactics and intimidation. Their networks extend well beyond the formal notified or publicly declared members of those groups. So this is not a modest or minor issue that can be explained away by the relatively small number of patched members of OMCGs.
Their level of engagement in organised crime is disproportionate to their number and it is a serious issue for our city. For that reason the government does take these issues very seriously and we need to remain diligent in ensuring that our criminal law is able to effectively assist in the disruption, disabling and dismantling of the activities of organised crime.
Before speaking about the key amendments in this bill, I would like to take this opportunity to speak about the consultation that the government has undertaken in relation to the development of a potential consorting law model for the ACT. A discussion paper was released for public submissions on this issue in June this year. It provided an overview of consorting laws in Australia, a proposed model for implementation in the territory and raised a number of issues for consideration in relation to the potential impact of the laws on vulnerable people, the way that the warnings would operate, and whether the model effectively protects and balances the fundamental human rights that are engaged.
The government received eight submissions on the paper. While two expressed support for the proposals, six outlined strong arguments for not introducing consorting laws at this time. Seven of the submissions have been published on the JACS website for information. Based on the feedback through various consulting processes, including in relation to the discussion paper, and underlying the importance of ensuring that any consorting laws framework is compliant with our human rights obligations under the Human Rights Act, the government has decided to continue to undertake work on the development of consorting laws and that it will be a matter for
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