❓ The Attorney General details the McGowan government's efforts to combat organised crime, particularly outlaw motorcycle gangs, highlighting anti-consorting and insignia laws and recent convictions. He emphasizes the government's commitment to being tough on crime.
AnsweredQoN 226Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ORGANISED CRIME AND OUTLAW MOTORCYCLE GANGS
226. Ms M.M. QUIRK to the Attorney General:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to stopping organised crime and keeping the
community safe. Can the Attorney General update the house on how this
government's anti-consorting and insignia laws are disrupting organised
crime?
226. Ms M.M. QUIRK to the Attorney General:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to stopping organised crime and keeping the
community safe. Can the Attorney General update the house on how this
government's anti-consorting and insignia laws are disrupting organised
crime?
AnswerView source ↗
Certainly. I take the member back to
March 2017 when the McGowan government was first elected and the Premier rang
and asked me whether I would accept the role of Attorney General. He gave me
specific riding orders. He said, ''This government is going to be tough
on crime and tough on the causes of crime. Are you up for that?'' In our
first term, we introduced laws like the no body, no parole law et cetera.
On
the specific question relating to our Criminal Law (Unlawful Consorting and
Prohibited Insignia) Act, specifically section
25, which is to do with insignia, when we introduced those laws, I held a press
conference with my colleague the Minister for Police. I told the public
at that stage that there was no law that would wipe out the bikies. There is no
law. The Liberal government tried it. The Liberal government had a boastful
Attorney General who stood where I am and said that the government was
introducing anti-association laws and that he would run a razor across the back
of the bikies and drive them out of town. We know that those laws were so pathetic
that the police never used them. We came in and said that we would introduce a raft
of laws that would make this the most inhospitable jurisdiction for outlaw motorcycle gangs. I note that yesterday, three
Rebels bikies were convicted in the courts under the anti-insignia laws.
I do not want to say too much about that case because they are up for sentence
on 12 April, but I note that the bikies themselves, on leaving the court,
endorsed our laws as the toughest. I will not use their profane language —
The SPEAKER : Not if you would
like to stay for the rest of question time!
Mr J.R. QUIGLEY : I will say
one thing about the Rebel bikie Mr Ginn: he has a potty-mouth. He said, ''We
can't have on our bodies what we want. We can't wear what we
want. We can't hang around. Eff this system. I'm not taking off
my tattoos. They're staying. We no longer live in a free country.''
He was really complaining about these laws because they are doing what we
promised, which is making this the most inhospitable jurisdiction for bikies. I
note that my colleague the member for Warnbro, the Minister for Police, brought
in the anti-gun laws and gun prohibition orders. There is a suite of laws,
including for the confiscation of assets, and I think we have provided about
$15 million or $16 million to the Corruption and Crime Commission in the last
budget for a deputy CCC commissioner and new hearing rooms to bring all these
people in and strip them of their assets. We have a suite of laws. When they
say, ''We no longer live in a free country'', how do you like
that coming from the bikies? It is coming from the Rebels. We saw Mr Labrook on
television being intercepted as he was handing over to Ms Kersley $250 000,
with another $210 000 in his boot. Not long after that he was put on bail. He
was the head of the Rebels but could no longer be the head of the Rebels. He
had to pass the baton to Mr Dixon in Bunbury and now he has been arrested on
gun and drugs charges.
I would humbly say to the Premier
that I have accepted his brief. We are tough on crime and tough on the causes
of crime, and so we shall remain.
The SPEAKER : Just a reminder,
photography is not permitted in this chamber at all.
March 2017 when the McGowan government was first elected and the Premier rang
and asked me whether I would accept the role of Attorney General. He gave me
specific riding orders. He said, ''This government is going to be tough
on crime and tough on the causes of crime. Are you up for that?'' In our
first term, we introduced laws like the no body, no parole law et cetera.
On
the specific question relating to our Criminal Law (Unlawful Consorting and
Prohibited Insignia) Act, specifically section
25, which is to do with insignia, when we introduced those laws, I held a press
conference with my colleague the Minister for Police. I told the public
at that stage that there was no law that would wipe out the bikies. There is no
law. The Liberal government tried it. The Liberal government had a boastful
Attorney General who stood where I am and said that the government was
introducing anti-association laws and that he would run a razor across the back
of the bikies and drive them out of town. We know that those laws were so pathetic
that the police never used them. We came in and said that we would introduce a raft
of laws that would make this the most inhospitable jurisdiction for outlaw motorcycle gangs. I note that yesterday, three
Rebels bikies were convicted in the courts under the anti-insignia laws.
I do not want to say too much about that case because they are up for sentence
on 12 April, but I note that the bikies themselves, on leaving the court,
endorsed our laws as the toughest. I will not use their profane language —
The SPEAKER : Not if you would
like to stay for the rest of question time!
Mr J.R. QUIGLEY : I will say
one thing about the Rebel bikie Mr Ginn: he has a potty-mouth. He said, ''We
can't have on our bodies what we want. We can't wear what we
want. We can't hang around. Eff this system. I'm not taking off
my tattoos. They're staying. We no longer live in a free country.''
He was really complaining about these laws because they are doing what we
promised, which is making this the most inhospitable jurisdiction for bikies. I
note that my colleague the member for Warnbro, the Minister for Police, brought
in the anti-gun laws and gun prohibition orders. There is a suite of laws,
including for the confiscation of assets, and I think we have provided about
$15 million or $16 million to the Corruption and Crime Commission in the last
budget for a deputy CCC commissioner and new hearing rooms to bring all these
people in and strip them of their assets. We have a suite of laws. When they
say, ''We no longer live in a free country'', how do you like
that coming from the bikies? It is coming from the Rebels. We saw Mr Labrook on
television being intercepted as he was handing over to Ms Kersley $250 000,
with another $210 000 in his boot. Not long after that he was put on bail. He
was the head of the Rebels but could no longer be the head of the Rebels. He
had to pass the baton to Mr Dixon in Bunbury and now he has been arrested on
gun and drugs charges.
I would humbly say to the Premier
that I have accepted his brief. We are tough on crime and tough on the causes
of crime, and so we shall remain.
The SPEAKER : Just a reminder,
photography is not permitted in this chamber at all.
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