Page 3128 - Week 08 - Thursday, 16 August 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
and violence and threatened violence in our suburbs. That is, of course, the issue of bikie violence and the desperate need for anti-consorting laws. Budgets are where governments set priorities, and policy development in JACS is specifically listed in the budget papers and it has been discussed during estimates hearings.
The government talks about responding to violent criminal acts and acts of bikie violence, but, as we know, until we have laws that prevent and disrupt—and they are words from the Chief Police Officer—rather than just react and respond, we will continue to see violence play out in our suburbs.
For years we have warned of the real dangers of these gangs. We have warned about the risks of being an oasis when other jurisdictions have introduced laws specifically targeting bikie gangs. I go back in history but we will recall that Nathan Rees when he was the Premier of New South Wales said, “We will drive the bikies out of New South Wales,” and he did just that by introducing tough laws. What have we seen? In many cases those bikies and those bikie gangs have come here, just as was warned of by the opposition and others.
We warned of the dangers of increased violence. That, too, is what we are seeing in our suburbs now, with report after report of everything from mass brawls to street bashings, from fire bombings to drive-by shootings. We warned that sooner or later the failure of Labor and the Greens to prevent these activities by introducing anti-consorting laws would end in an innocent bystander being maimed or killed. That, thankfully, has not yet come to pass, but I put this government on notice now that if you do not act, it is only a matter of time.
As we have seen from the evidence over a decade, without anti-consorting laws more bikie gangs and more bikies will come to Canberra. That has happened. When more bikie gangs and more bikies come to Canberra, there will be more violence and there will be a bikie war. That has continued. Without anti-consorting laws, that bikie war will continue, and with the violence that we have seen with shootings, fire bombings and brawls in the street, it is only a matter of time before an innocent civilian in this case is killed or seriously injured. (Second speaking period taken.)
At that point the responsibility for that will lie directly with this government. As I have said before, it will be for the ministers opposite to look the families of victims in the eye and explain why their loved ones have been killed or seriously injured when that could have been prevented years ago.
Let me go to some of those reports: “Outlaw bikie gangs heading to Canberra because of the ACT’s soft laws on consorting” from the Daily Telegraph 2017; “Bikies drawn to Canberra due to lack of anti-gang laws” from the ABC in 2017; “Canberra becoming a Bikie Mecca”, Daily Telegraph 2017; and from the New South Wales Police themselves reported in the Daily Telegraph in 2017:
A lot of clubhouses have been closed down and bikies are no longer roaming in packs in NSW but it’s frustrating because they can still operate freely in Canberra.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video