NSW to propose tough new bikie laws

NSW Premier Nathan Rees has vowed to push ahead with laws to make it illegal for
bikies to associate with one another, despite objections from legal and civil
liberties groups.

The proposed NSW laws, enabling Supreme Court judges to ban bikie gangs, have the
firm backing of police and the NSW opposition.
Mr Rees and NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos on Sunday outlined tough new
legislation calling for jail terms of two to five years for bikie gang members
caught associating with one another after a gang is banned.
"Where a gang is proscribed, that particular gang, of itself will become illegal,
the association with it or with its members will also become illegal," Mr Rees told
reporters in Sydney.
He said not every bikie gang would necessarily be targeted.
"Where the police have intelligence and where the police have evidence an
application will be made to a Supreme Court judge and that evidence and intelligence
can be brought to bear on the judge's decision and form the judge's decision as to
whether a gang will be proscribed."
He acknowledged there were concerns over people's freedom of association but said it
was appropriate if the government got "the balance right".
"This is about bikie gangs and bikie gang-related violence".
Mr Rees said the government would draw on advice from the Solicitor-General to
prevent a High Court challenge.
The proposal follows last Sunday's fatal brawl between the Hells Angels and rival
gang the Comancheros at Sydney airport and comes as parliament prepares to take a
break until May.
Mr Hatzistergos said the NSW approach would differ in several ways from the strategy
adopted in South Australia's anti-bikie legislation.
He said a NSW Supreme Court judge would decide whether a bikie group should be banned.
"It will require an application by the police commissioner based on intelligence to
identify the particular group in question and to identify the individuals who form
part of that group," he said.
Bikies who continued to associate with each other would be given no warning before
charges were laid, he said.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said the proposed laws were "very
appropriate", noting that NSW had a particular problem with bikie gangs because half
of the nation's 40 outlawed groups reside in the state.
But University of NSW Associate Professor of law Andrew Lynch said the laws would be
difficult to prosecute.
"Courts are very reluctant to outlaw groups just on the basis of assertions from the
executive," Dr Lynch told the ABC.
Both the NSW Council of Civil Liberties and the Law Society said current laws were
sufficient.
"Where is the defect in the current laws that says (criminals) can't be dealt with?"
NSW Law Society president Joe Catanzaeriti told Fairfax Media.
NSW Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell says the laws will finally give NSW police the
powers to "smash criminal bikie gangs".
"We need to stop pussyfooting around. We need to fight fire with fire," Mr O'Farrell
told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
"There's no point in tying police hands behind their back as they tackle people who
engage in bashings, beatings and bombings and the sorts of murderous behaviour we
saw last Sunday at Sydney airport."
Anthony Zervas, 29, was with his Hells Angel brother when he was killed during a
brawl in the check-in area of Sydney's domestic terminal.
Four Comancheros have so far been charged with affray over the brawl.
Police believe a recent spate of drive-by shootings are also bikie gang-related.
Mr O'Farrell said the legislation needed to be dealt with this week so Sydney would
not have to endure another month of violence.
Meanwhile, police have been monitoring a convoy of up to 300 bikies who rode to
Canberra for an annual tattoo show.
The bikies will stay on for the funeral on Monday of Rebels club member Richard
Roberts who was shot dead in Canberra on Tuesday, along with 48-year-old Gregory
Peter Carrigan, 48.
Police do not believe the killings were bikie gang-related.
A 20-year-old man has been charged with two counts of murder.