Bikies to mass in Gawler to fight Sa Government
OUTLAW motorcycle gangs will mass in Gawler for their biggest gathering yet in a defiant show of strength against the State Government’s new anti-bikie laws.
Hundreds of bikers, from all chapters of the state’s feared outlaw motorcycle clubs, including the Hells Angels, Finks, Rebels and Descendants, are expected to conduct a mass ride through the Barossa Valley on March 14 in the Gypsy Jokers’ annual poker run.
“We will all come together and we will all unite,” one member of the Gypsy Jokers said yesterday.
And he said the bikie clubs would continue to fight State Government laws which could make membership of motorcycle clubs illegal if the Government declared them to be criminal gangs.
“No matter what, we will still be around, we will be in jail if that’s what it means,” he said.
Premier Mike Rann dismissed the apparent harmony between the traditional rivals as a “stunt” and said the clubs could “protest or squirm as much as they like”.
“As for claims they’re being united, the last time claims were made by apologists for the bikies that they were being united by our tough laws, it was no time before they were shooting and stabbing each other again,” Mr Rann said.
Alerted to the meeting by The Advertiser, Police Assistant Commissioner Tony Harrison said it was “very unusual” for rival clubs to co-operate on this kind of event.
“We would treat any matter such as this from a road safety perspective and if it requires policing it will be policed,” he said.
The gathering has been dubbed the Freedom of Association Protest Poker Run, and it is the first time different clubs, many of them long-time enemies, will ride together.
The run has been sparked by the State Government’s Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act, which came into force late last year. Under the Act, Police Commissioner Mal Hyde can ask the State Government to “declare” a bikie gang a proscribed organisation, making it possible for individual members to face harsh sanctions if they associate or communicate with one another.
The Finks is the first club to be subject to the law and Attorney-General Michael Atkinson is expected to announce his decision within the month on whether it will be made illegal.
If the decision is handed down before March 14, the poker run could be the first serious test of the Government’s new laws, although there is a provision in the Act that protects the right to “participate in advocacy, protest, dissent or industrial action”.
The run is not the first act of unity between the clubs, which have formed the Free Australia Party to oppose the new laws.
Last Saturday, The Advertiser’s new magazine, SA Weekend, also revealed outlaw clubs had been meeting to set aside differences and to work together to fight the State Government.
It is expected the clubs could eventually take their challenge to the new laws all the way to the High Court.
Descendants Motorcycle Club president Tom Mackie said his members were committed to fighting the Government. “We’re going to ride like we always have,” he said.
The poker run leaves from the Old Spot Hotel in Gawler and traditionally receives significant police attention.
But Mr Mackie predicted authorities might take a different approach this year, due to the vastly increased numbers. “It may alter the way they treat us,” he said.
“Normally they jump all over these kinds of things and try to intimidate people. But that may change if they know all the clubs are coming.
“It may get worse – or for all we know they might step back and not do a goddamn thing. We think it’s wise to resist right from the get-go.”
Province reader Eric Walton sent us this story regarding gang crimes in Adelaide, Australia, a country that has recently legislated tough anti-biker laws. Walton sent the story in response to a call from The Province editor-in-chief on the issue of gang violence in the Lower Mainland.
February 14, 2009 12:30am
Adelaid’s notorious Finks Motorcycle Club is preparing for a High Court challenge to the Rann Government’s new anti-biker laws if it is declared an outlaw gang.
The decision to seek legal opinion from a top senior counsel comes as rival gangs begin meetings aimed at improving their sometimes violent relationships and public image.
One meeting last month was hosted by the Descendants and attended by gangs including the Rebels, Gypsy Jokers, Finks and Hells Angels.
Descendants founder Tom Mackie said the clubs needed to try to shed the criminal image and return to their roots.
“We are many things that they say we are but we are not all of them,” he said.
Under the Serious and Organized Crime (Control) Act police claim the Finks are a criminal gang and a public danger, made up of 46 members and responsible for a wide array of offences including rape, assault and drug manufacture.
Premier Mike Rann has claimed they are among the most heinous criminals in society. Attorney-General Michael Atkinson is expected to decide soon if he will outlaw the gang, a move that would prevent members from mixing with each other on a regular basis.
If so, they could be issued with control orders preventing them mixing with each other, and with anyone else on a regular basis outside certain approved circumstances.
Finks’ lawyer Craig Caldicott said the club would argue a judge should be able to decide if justice had been done.
He said the law forbids judges to review a government decision, even though it could be made on secret evidence that wouldn’t be admissible in court.
“It is usurping the courts function — parliament is seeking to make the courts a rubber stamp,” he said.
The concern is widely held among lawyers. SA Law Society president John Goldberg says the laws are reminiscent of the Nazi era in Germany and the Mccarthy era in the US, when authorities ignored basic rights to target specific groups.
Mr. Goldberg says the law doesn’t require proof beyond reasonable doubt, undermines the presumption of innocence and prevents access to the courts to challenge what might be biased, unfounded and unreasonable decisions either by the Attorney-General or police.