Queensland biker laws policed to the point of stupidity

Ever since the Queensland government launched it’s fascist anti biker laws there have been reports of police going over the top in enforcing them by harassment of law abiding motorcycle riders.  Some reports indicate that there have been provocations in order to cause an offence to be committed.

At a recent funeral of a seventy-year-old woman in Townsville, a group of motorcyclists were pulled over and searched despite notifying authorities that they were to ride in a guard of honor for the deceased.  Law abiding riders are cutting back on group rides to the point where some businesses catering to this market in some of the popular destinations are concerned about having to close down.

Now a charity motorcycle ride in aid of the Cancer Council has been subjected to arbitrary checks as they set out on a ride: 

Participants of a charity motorcycle ride feel they have been classed as criminal motorcycle gang members following the degree of police presence at the event. 

Former president of the Bundaberg and District Motorcycle Enthusiasts Club, John Burrage, was one of hundreds of riders who took part in the last Bumz on Bikes cancer fundraiser ride on October 27. 

"The police turned up - two guys were walking around in uniform and there were two plain-clothed guys," he said. 

"Later on, we observed them approaching the Cancer Council ladies and demanded all the entry forms and took them away to the police station to photocopy.  "To me, that's a bit off." 

Mr Burrage said the treatment made him, and others, feel like criminals.  "It's putting us in the same category with all the outlaw gangs," he said.  "That doesn't seem fair to me."Now they have everyone who was there on record - don't' we have rights anymore?". … 

… But Bundaberg Criminal Investigation Branch Detective Sergeant David Tucker stressed that officers were not out to "tarnish" the event. 

"We wouldn't even think for one minute that the event was tarnished by any members of a criminal motorcycle gang, or that it was related to a criminal organisation," he said. 

"We had an obligation to ensure that there were no members of criminal motorcycle gangs attending there and committing an offence under the new legislation." 

Det Sgt Tucker said the new legislation, brought in last month, now meant it was an offence if three more members of a criminal bikie gang were together at any one time.  "The reason that police attended was to ensure that among the persons attending, there wasn't three or more criminal motorcycle gang members," he said. …

One member of the Rebels Motorcycle Club was identified at the event.  Had there been two other members or former members of the Rebels or other outlawed clubs present, they would have been guilty of an offence under the act, even if they were unaware of the presence of the others. 

The position of the other riders is not certain under these circumstances, as technically, they would have been associating with outlaw motorcyclists.  In any case, just what the hell is the problem with Rebels, Comancheros, Hells Angels, or any other group the government doesn’t like participating in a charity ride?

This obsession by the government, and the willingness of the police to go around making pricks of themselves among law abiding people in the hope of bagging a couple of ‘bikies’ is only going to lessen respect for the law and especially, the police among the community.