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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-10-24 Daily Xml
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ORGANISED CRIME

Mr KENYON (Newland) (14:45): My question is to the Attorney-General.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop will come to order!

Mr KENYON: Can the Attorney-General inform the house about the visit to South Australia by Professor James A. Finckenauer, a world renowned sociologist and criminologist?

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon—Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:46): The Rann government takes the fight against organised crime most seriously. We understand the risk that it poses to our state, indeed, our nation. Many argue that, on the international stage, the threat posed by organised crime is no less than the threat posed by terrorism. Organised crime has many facets. Locally, the focus is on crimes committed by outlaw motorcycle gangs and crimes of drug trafficking and distribution. It emphasises the need to study anti-organised crime measures overseas.

The South Australian government's work to create new laws targeting outlaw motorcycle gangs includes research that is necessarily broad. I am pleased to tell the house that one of the foremost international authorities on organised crime is visiting South Australia, and I have invited him to speak to government officials on the challenge of combating organised crime and outlaw motorcycle gangs. Professor James Finckenauer comes from Princeton, New Jersey. He gained a masters degree in sociology and criminology from New York University and, later, his doctorate from the Centre for Human Relations at that university. He has had a distinguished academic career of over 40 years devoted almost entirely into the study of the causes and prevention of crime, as well as working with police and other law enforcement agencies in training and planning.

In 1998 he became director of the International Centre of the National Institute of Justice, which is the research arm of the US Department of Justice, a position he held until 2002. I had the opportunity to meet officers of that international centre earlier this year to discuss a broad range of law reforms, including juvenile justice reforms. Professor Finckenauer is the co-author of six books as well as many articles and reports. His latest book, Mafia and Organised Crime: A Beginner's Guide, was published earlier this year, and it provides an insight into the mafia as a group that has the capacity to destabilise on a global scale.

Professor Finckenauer is in Adelaide as a guest of Flinders University. I welcome the opportunity for the state government to seek out his views and advice on the challenges we face in South Australia. His visit comes at the very time when the state government is preparing its own bikie legislation, and I am glad that we are able to draw on his international expertise to inform our reforms. I look forward to meeting him this afternoon. The government has already begun to roll out reforms that target criminal motorcycle gang activity in licensed premises and in hydroponics, and I expect to introduce further legislation later this year. The government intends to be vigilant and consult widely. I thank the member for Newland for his interest in stamping out bikie-related crime.

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