Page 811 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 20 March 2019
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as an excuse when other Labor jurisdictions are putting the safety of their community first.
The article continued:
Anti-consorting laws have been used by the NSW anti-gangs team, Strike Force Raptor, to effectively target and disrupt outlaw motorcycle gang activity in that state.
Since the introduction of the Queensland and NSW legislation, the number of outlaw motorcycle gangs active within the ACT has jumped from one, the Rebels, to four and now includes the Comancheros, the Nomads and most recently, the European-based Satudarah.
The concerning fact is that this has happened since the bill was tabled but the government have done nothing and still come into this place and say that these laws are not needed. They peddle the myth that there is no reason for these laws. But as that article illustrated, since the other jurisdictions brought in their laws and this pig-headed government refused to do so, we have seen an increase in the number of bikies and we have seen the number of gangs explode.
They have said that there has been no increase in the number of individual bikies. Back in 2016, the former Attorney-General was looking to introduce anti-consorting laws. He put out a discussion paper and draft laws because he thought that they were needed. The previous Attorney-General thought they were needed. The discussion paper said that the ACT had three OMCGs; we now have four. It said there was a total membership of 45. In the answer to a question yesterday we were told it is now 60. That is a 25 per cent jump in just two years. Any organisation would be pretty happy with that increase in membership numbers. I bet the Greens would be happy if their membership increased by 25 per cent in two years. To say there has been no increase in the number of bikies when there has been a 25 per cent increase is a nonsense.
And the government’s own paper said, and this is important, that this does not include associates—that is, those people who actively engage with OMCG members in furtherance of their criminal activity, which significantly increases the number of persons participating in the organised criminal network. It is not just about patch members. Patch members have gone up by 25 per cent, but all of the associates have increased in number as well.
We know from media articles, with statements from police, that the bikies are targeting high school children. They are out there trying to recruit in our high schools. That is what is happening under the current laws.
But the most concerning thing, in terms of the numbers, is not just the individual bikies and their associates but the number of gangs. That is the point. If any other jurisdiction in Australia had had a fourfold increase in gang numbers, just imagine the concerns that would be raised and the outrage. That is what has happened here. It would have been a fifth, but I think the Finks have failed to establish. They may be trying again; we will wait to see.
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