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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-10-25 Daily Xml
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Question Time

MOTORCYCLE GANGS

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:23): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police a question about outlaw motorcycle gangs.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Whilst the government's tough on law and order approach, in particular to outlaw motorcycle gangs, has been mostly talk and little action, we have seen some effect. I refer to an article in the Sunday Mail entitled 'Locals fear new bikie stronghold', which discusses concern of the community in the Para Hills West area about outlaw motorcycle gang activity in that area. According to the article, police minister Paul Holloway asked the police to examine the Para Hills West Working Club's application after being alerted about the concerns of nearby residents. Whilst the police are taking some action in the city, I have been alarmed to receive a number of phone calls from people in rural and regional South Australia about outlaw motorcycle gangs spending more and more time in their particular areas, in particular on weekends and, indeed, coming back and occupying the same premises each weekend. My questions to the minister are:

1. What strategy does the government and the South Australian police have to ensure that bikie gangs are not creating clubhouses and locations in our regional cities?

2. What additional resources are available to local police to handle an increased presence of bikie gangs, particularly on weekends, in our regional cities and towns?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:25): Obviously, this government's efforts in relation to outlaw motorcycle gangs has been effective, and a key part of that is the disruption of these gangs. The more successful the government is in disrupting these gangs, the more their activities will seek to diversify, the further they will spread and, hopefully, ultimately they will spread interstate and, indeed, overseas. They will be right out of our community. In relation to regional areas, SAPOL does have Operation Avatar, and the Police Commissioner announced a little while back how the operational organisation within the police force in relation to keeping tabs on motorcycle gangs would be significantly strengthened.

SAPOL has the capacity to, and does, monitor the activities of these outlaw motorcycle gangs, so I am sure that police intelligence is well aware of any changed behaviour in relation to these gangs and, of course, in relation to dealing with them. Not only was there a significant increase in officers assigned to the section that deals with outlaw motorcycle gangs but it was announced a month or two ago by the Commissioner that this government will be strengthening legislation and, of course, police have the capacity to use the Star Group and other well trained sections of the police force that can deal with any concentration of thuggery, if that is necessary. I assure the honourable member that there has been a significantly increased effort. The number of police officers devoted to dealing with outlaw motorcycle gangs has increased markedly.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: If, in fact, those gangs are seeking to congregate outside the city then I think that is probably an indication that police efforts at disruption are being successful. I can assure people in the regional areas as well that the activities of the police will not stop and the harassment of those outlaw motorcycle gangs will continue right to the borders of the state. Indeed, one of the initiatives that the police have been taking is to ensure that we do get a coordinated response around the country. To that end, the Police Commissioner from this state, Mal Hyde, has been the head of a working group that has been looking, in a national sense, at outlaw motorcycle gangs. At the next police ministers conference coming up shortly, the Commissioner will be reporting on those activities.

So, not only are we doing everything we can to harass those gangs within the state but we are also trying to coordinate efforts across boundaries because ultimately, since these gangs are highly mobile, if we are to be effective in reducing their influence we do need to do it on a national scale. I am pleased to say that this state, through the Commissioner, is leading the efforts in adopting a national approach towards dealing with those gangs.

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