Page 1654 - Week 06 - Thursday, 23 July 2020
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MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (3.46): I was not entirely surprised to see this motion come forward from Mr Hanson this week because we know he is a strong believer in anti-consorting laws, despite the contrary evidence. He has taken a lot of effort to pursue this agenda over a number of years now. I know he would like to reduce gang-related crime in the ACT, and that is certainly a goal I share. I think we all agree on that. But what we do not agree on is the effective way to achieve the outcome.
The Greens will not be supporting Mr Hanson’s motion because, as we have discussed numerous times before in this place, we do not agree that anti-consorting laws are a good or effective way to combat issues with outlaw motorcycle gangs. We believe that is what the evidence clearly says.
Yes, there have been incidents of gang violence in Canberra, and these are concerning and disturbing. At this point I emphasise that while the incident at Kokomo’s bar on the weekend involved an OMCG member, the investigation is not concluded, so I will not be speculating on the cause or the circumstances. I am sure more information will come to light when the police continue their investigations.
We all want to address issues of outlaw motorcycle gangs and organised crime in the ACT, but introducing anti-consorting laws is not some panacea to make the issues go away. In fact, the evidence suggests that they will not be effective and probably are worse because of the other problems they cause.
Issues with criminal gangs and organised crime continue to affect all jurisdictions in Australia, and there is not a single magic bullet to fix it. We agree with the approach that the government has been pursuing, primarily through Taskforce Nemesis. As Minister Ramsay pointed out, that approach has been very effective. The police have been capturing and charging gang leaders. The number of bikie gang members in the ACT has halved from 70 in 2018-19 to around 35 today.
This has been bolstered by several targeted changes to the law which have helped police with the enforcement tools they need, including crime scene powers, fortification laws, offences related to drive-by shootings, the confiscation of criminal assets, and non-association orders. These were developed in consultation with ACT Policing and in response to specific incidents where police identified gaps in their ability to investigate and disrupt OMCG activity.
As I said last time we discussed this issue, these laws and other existing police powers have resulted in a significant number of arrests and charges, with 17 detainees at the AMC believed to be patched members, nominees, former members or associates of outlaw motorcycle gangs. This is all good progress.
As the Greens have said before, and as Minister Ramsay discussed, there is a real concern that anti-consorting laws do not work and just end up disproportionately impacting on vulnerable members of our society. The legislation Mr Hanson has previously championed is based on the anti-consorting legislative regime in New South Wales. The New South Wales Ombudsman reviewed those laws and found they
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