Page 431 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 20 February 2019
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And let me quote from the article:
In a troubling development for the Canberra community, police have confirmed that the shooting and arson attack on a suburban home in Kambah early on Monday was a targeted attack and bikie gang-related.
Detective Superintendent Scott Moller confirmed that “multiple adults and some children” were at home in the two-storey home on Harrington Circuit in Kambah when three bullets were fired into the property about 1.30 am on Monday.
The bullets struck the garage door of the house.
Superintendent Moller also confirmed accelerant was poured on three vehicles outside the home and all three set on fire in the attack.
Worse still is the fact that the government has been repeatedly warned of these risks. They knew it was happening and did nothing. The warnings did not come just from the Canberra Liberals. ACT Policing, the New South Wales police and others have expressed their concerns at the refusal to act. The Daily Telegraph reported:
New South Wales Police sources have revealed their exasperation at how the ACT situation is hampering their battle against the bikie menace. “A lot of clubhouses have been closed down and bikies are no longer roaming in packs in New South Wales, but it’s frustrating that they can still operate freely in Canberra,” a senior New South Wales officer said.
The Australian Federal Police Association president, Angela Smith, stated:
I’ve been calling for these laws since I became president just over 18 months ago and I just don’t understand the reticence of the ACT government. It doesn’t make any sense. It is the last part of the suite of resources we need to battle outlaw motorcycle gangs.
I’ve been going on like a broken record. We’re an island in New South Wales. We’ve become a safe place to operate.
The Sydney Morning Herald summed it up:
The ACT needs anti-consorting laws now before someone dies.
For the record, I did send my warnings. And let me quote from a press report of 25 March 2009, a decade ago:
The ACT would risk becoming an oasis for bikie gang members if we failed to follow New South Wales’s lead on legislation, Shadow Minister for Police Jeremy Hanson said today.
“Recent bikie gang violence and murders in the ACT and New South Wales has highlighted the need for the ACT to stay in step with any changes to New South Wales anti-bikie gang laws in order to prevent Canberra becoming an oasis for bikies.
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