Page 802 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 20 March 2019
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we, as a government, are committed to addressing but which this law will do nothing to support.
While the work initiated by the former chief police officer has gone some way to building better understanding between our police force and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans, the fact remains that we need to do more to build this relationship and cultural competence rather than erode it with the introduction of this type of law.
Madam Speaker, in the face of the evidence from other jurisdictions, the bill before us can at best be seen as lazy policy. The simple fact is that there is no simple solution to address violence and organised crime in our community. On this side of the chamber, we are committed to a safe community and have invested in our police and justice systems accordingly. But we are also committed to action that is based on evidence.
MR WALL (Brindabella) (10.38): I rise today in support of the bill brought to us by Mr Hanson. I applaud his and his office’s work on this very important piece of legislation.
I stand here today representing the residents of Tuggeranong, where, alarmingly, the statistics tell us the majority of the outlaw motorcycle gang related crime is occurring. Calwell, Gowrie, Kambah, Richardson, Gordon, Theodore and Isabella Plains have all seen some pretty terrifying crime over recent years. We have heard about drive-by shootings and firebombed cars and even seen the very alarming vision of an all-out gunfight and brawl in Calwell. All of this has been confirmed to be a result of escalating rival gang warfare and related to bikie gang activity playing out the streets of our suburbs.
When we see headlines such as, “Bikie violence surges”, “Children in houses where shots fired” or “More shootings across the suburbs”, as a community we are alarmed. But when these events are happening in your street or in your suburb this alarm turns into terror. I have heard from a number of Tuggeranong residents who tell me that they are fearful that this crime is happening in their backyard. At the same time they express complete dismay that seemingly nothing is being done about it.
As Mr Hanson said in his presentation speech, this legislation is not a matter of politics or ideology; it is a response to a cold, hard reality and has a basis in fact. The fact is that this bikie gang related criminal behaviour has escalated in the ACT since the introduction of anti-consorting laws across the border in New South Wales. We have become a safe haven for these criminal gangs. Something needs to be done. This is not scaremongering. Outlaw bikie gang activity is worsening, and the danger to the general public is ever increasing. A bikie war is being waged on our doorsteps.
As far as members of the public can see, the priorities of this government are all wrong. The fact that this government refuses to accept the need for anti-consorting laws or additional powers such as these is just plain irresponsible. That is also the view expressed to me time and time again by constituents who are having to live among this violence: residents of Tuggeranong who are forced to accept this kind of lawlessness in their streets on an all too frequent basis.
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