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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-16 Daily Xml
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SERIOUS AND ORGANISED CRIME

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (15:14): Will the Attorney-General inform the house about comments made in other Australian states about South Australia's tough anti-bikie gang laws?

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon—Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (15:15): Well, I can, as a matter of fact. There have been media reports of criminal motorcycle gang related shootings in Western Australia. I understand from those reports that it is alleged a bikie gang member, or members, who used to reside in South Australia—

Mr WILLIAMS: Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I thought it was out of order to ask a minister to comment on media reports.

The SPEAKER: I do not think the question was asking for a comment on a media report.

Mr WILLIAMS: The question was: could he comment on the reports that have been made interstate? I waited until the Attorney started his answer and he went directly to starting to talk about reports, I think in the Western Australian newspaper.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: If it was a question without notice, rather than a question written by the Attorney, he might get away with it.

The SPEAKER: Order! My recollection of the question was that it did not ask the Attorney to make a comment on a media report. I am certain that that was the case.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: The standing order, by the way, is whether media reports are true. The member for MacKillop has been here 11 years, you would think he would have developed some familiarity—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: No, what is out of order is asking a minister whether a media report is true. Read Erskine May for the first time would be a good idea. It seems that criminal bikies are now looking to other jurisdictions to conduct their criminal activity because it is getting tougher and tougher in South Australia. Little wonder the criminal bikie gang members are abandoning South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: We have made sure that this state is not open for business for criminal bikie activity. Why would they not consider relocating their illicit enterprise to a more gentle jurisdiction? The Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act and new laws establishing three types of public order offences were passed by parliament earlier this year and are now in effect. I echo the call of the Police Commissioner, Mr Hyde, in seeking a national approach to blotting out serious and organised bikie crime across the nation. There can be no doubt that legislative gaps or inconsistencies across Australia stand to benefit organised crime gangs and allow them to flout the law in various states.

There is no doubt that bikie gangs have broadened their activity to become involved in crime on a syndicated national or international scale. The government has been criticised by some—the Democrats, the Greens, the member for Mitchell and the shadow attorney-general, the member for Heysen—for cracking down on crime and trying to bring respect for the rule of law and maintain order. And we know that if the member for Heysen were the—

Mr HANNA: Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The Attorney-General is debating in his answer.

The SPEAKER: No, I do not think he is debating.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: The member for Bragg asserts that not one bikie has left the state—not one. Let us test that proposition. But if the member for Heysen were the Attorney-General, she has ruled out in her electorate newsletter and in this house appealing against manifestly inadequate sentences. She will never direct the DPP to appeal against a sentence. Moreover, the member for Heysen says that it is wrong to refuse parole to convicted murderers when those parole applications come before—

Ms CHAPMAN: Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The question is: what comments were made interstate in relation to the bikie legislation in South Australia? It has nothing to do with the issue which the Attorney-General is raising.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Thank you for your guidance, Mr Speaker. We said on day one that any jurisdiction that does not follow us in the toughest laws in the nation on bikies risks becoming home to displaced South Australian bikies. I have not yet been asked to consider any declarations under the new act, which commenced only weeks ago, but I would expect the Police Commissioner to forward a request in the near future. Certainly, I am not going to be turned by the criticisms of the member for Heysen and the probing of Matthew Abraham on ABC Radio 891, that we should somehow bring on a declaration as quickly as possible to satisfy the news cycle. We are about enforcing the Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act, not responding to the news cycle.

The Statutes Amendment (Public Order Offences) Act is now in force, and people appeared before the resident magistrate in Berri last week charged with these offences. The act creates the offences of riot, affray and violent disorder, and better enables convictions for this illegal behaviour, even in circumstances where witnesses and victims may not be able or, indeed, may be unwilling, to cooperate with the police.

Laws restricting the use of equipment closely linked with drug making and cultivation will soon come into force, along with tighter firearms prohibitions for people with histories of criminal violence. Members will recall that the member for Mitchell was vocal in his opposition to the first of those changes.

Phase 1 of the fight against criminal motorcycle gangs is now complete, and phase 2 is in train. We are working on new laws targeting unexplained wealth and giving power to declare persons drug traffickers. I am confident that the member for Mitchell will oppose us on those as well.

At the SCAG conference held in Tanunda earlier this year, a detailed presentation was made to all attorneys-general. When that presentation was complete, I again warned my colleagues to watch out for the infiltration of criminal bikie members. I told them that their states ignore these people at their peril.

I support Commissioner Hyde's call, made last year, to develop a comprehensive national strategy. It seems we now have the attention of Western Australia, and I welcome any moves by Western Australia to join the Rann Labor government in curtailing the criminal activities of outlaw bikie gangs.

It is time other states and territories followed South Australia's lead to deliver the result that most voters want, that is, a diminution in the criminal operations of bikie gangs. This government would be pleased to help Western Australia with its endeavour, and I extend that offer of help to all states and territories.

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