Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Johnston. Will the minister outline to the Senate any action that the government is taking to crack down on outlaw motorcycle gangs?

David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Fierravanti-Wells for her question and for her longstanding interest in and commitment to law enforcement in the Illawarra and Wollongong regions of New South Wales.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Isn’t it funny how, when one wants to answer a question on law and order, it is a matter of humour on the other side of the chamber! Outlaw motorcycle gangs have long been a significant organised crime issue in Australia, and the Australian government has taken this issue very seriously for many years. These gangs are a national problem, and any legislative reform should be nationally consistent across the states and jurisdictions, as far as possible. The investigation of organised and serious crime, including the activities of outlaw motorcycle gangs, often extends across jurisdictional borders. The Australian government and I are not interested in symbolic gestures and talkfests. What I am interested in is taking organised crime gangs off the streets—and I can assure the Australian community that outlaw motorcycle gangs will certainly have a tough time ahead of them under this government. It is vital that we have effective laws in place and work closely with our state and territory counterparts to ensure that crime gangs are shut down completely. The Commonwealth has already developed model laws for controlled operations, assumed identities and witness protection. I do not resile from developing tough legislation to protect the Australian public.

May I say in passing that I think John Kerin’s article in today’s Financial Review echoed what a lot of Australians think about the opposition’s perspective on the subject: Labor is soft on crime. I will do whatever it takes in introducing legislation that will effectively crack down on the cones of silence that are associated with outlaw motorcycle gangs. In recognition of the national importance of this issue and as a matter of leadership, I put to the police ministers’ meeting in New Zealand in June that we develop a proper, effective framework to deal with this problem. The states and territories agreed to take part in a working group with the Australian government and all other jurisdictions, including New Zealand. The working group will prepare a comprehensive report on the measures currently in place to combat outlaw motorcycle gangs and organised crime, make recommendations on possible proposals to enhance policy and legislative responses and identify potential gaps in the law.

We are already doing a number of things, and the Australian government has previously taken significant steps in dealing with outlaw motorcycle gangs. The Australian Crime Commission has conducted a range of highly successful operations targeting outlaw motorcycle gang activities, including the recently established Australian Crime Commission national intelligence task force into outlaw motorcycle gangs operating under the high-risk crimes group determination. This built on the work previously undertaken by the Australian Crime Commission outlaw motorcycle gang intelligence operation which concluded last year. In May this year I wrote to the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission to look at ways to learn from other countries, especially in response to outlaw motorcycle gangs.

The Australian government has set about the task of establishing some benchmarks, learning from the national experience, to coordinate a national response to outlaw motorcycle gangs to enable police of all jurisdictions to have the best opportunity to use the best powers to attack this problem. The public should be pleased with what we are doing and should look at what the Labor Party say when they oppose everything we do.