Queensland pushes for anti biker laws, as if there are not enough laws already

"The civil libertarians will bleat and they will carry on, (but) Friday night was a turning point. – Premier Campbell Newman, demonstrating the condescension of the ‘born to rule’ crowd.

The Qld premier Campbell Newman has chucked a wobbly after some biker gang related violence on the Gold Coast and has joined the fashionable government set by advocating anti biker laws.  Just to demonstrate how ultra – fashionable and (from a governing perspective) really cool he is, he has dubbed it a “War on Bikies.” 

Mandatory penalties, bans on gatherings, locations, and vehicle confiscations form the foundation of the Queensland government's new anti-criminal gang legislation. 

Under the proposed anti-racketeering laws, gang members would be banned from gathering in groups, attending certain locations such as entertainment districts, wearing club colours inside licensed venues and restaurants, owning, operating or working in tattoo parlours or promoting or recruiting members. 

Members of outlaw motorcycle gangs will also face mandatory prison sentences if convicted of serious criminal offences and be banned from gathering in their own club houses under the new legislation. 

A conviction for serious assault of a police officer will carry a minimum one year prison sentence, with mandatory minimum sentencing for the possession and trafficking of firearms already in place.

There are already laws in place to cover pretty much all of the crimes that these people are alleged to have committed, so why not just go out there and arrest those who are guilty of wrong-doing?  It is that simple and without the risk of having the legislation overturned in the High Court as most similar legislation in other states has been.

But hey; to show you have a set of big ones, it is necessary to pick out a group of people, dictate what they can wear, where they can go, where they can work, what entertainment they may participate in, and make different laws which only apply to them, something like Germany in the 30s and 40s.

At least for the present he doesn’t seem concerned about their diets.