A southside Canberra woman who fled the ACT after becoming the victim of a bikie-related incident has added her voice to growing concerns about the all-pervasive influence of outlaw motorcycle gangs in the city's lucrative illegal drug trade.
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The woman, who cannot be named for her fear of further retribution, told The Canberra Times that as a result of her experience she strongly supports giving police every possible tool to combat the growth of bikie gangs.
One of those controversial tools will be tabled in the Legislative Assembly tomorrow when the Liberals' Jeremy Hanson attempts to introduce updated anti-consorting legislation with the newest "safeguard" amendments introduced in NSW late last year.
The bill represents yet another attempt by the Liberals to align the ACT's anti-bikie laws with those used across other states and territories.
But the bill appears certain to face defeat, with the government adamant that current laws provide sufficient powers for ACT police to disrupt the criminal activity of outlaw motorcycle gangs.
ACT police have repeatedly stated the need for nationally consistent laws to take on bikie-related crime.
Police say there are four gangs now active in Canberra after one, the Finks, supposedly left late last year. The most recent gang to set up here, the Satudarah, has a reputation for violence which saw it banned from home country The Netherlands.
In Canberra's two most recent bikie-related incidents, shots were fired at a Kambah home, and patrons fled the Southern Cross Club in Woden after a brawl broke out between rival gangs.
The former Canberra woman said that through circumstantial reasons, her family fell victim to an OMCG attack and it's an experience she will never forget.
"The bikies control the drug trade in Canberra. These people are not always easily identifiable because they appear to lead normal family lives, they run businesses, they live in the suburbs and have a whole network of associates which do their bidding," she said.
She is aware that there a number of witnesses who are too intimidated to come forward.
"Among ordinary people like us, there's this enormous fear of retribution," she said.
Mr Hanson said that the growth of
bikie-related violence in the ACT can be directly linked to the lack of anti-consorting laws.
He says his latest bill's amendments, passed with bipartisan support in the NSW parliament late last year, now has sufficient safeguards to protect members of the community which may be inadvertently caught up in the legislation.
He also said the amendments address the potential conflict with human rights legislation which the government regards as a key stumbling block.
"Our laws are always about balancing rights - the rights to association, in this case - against the rights of every other citizen to be safe in their homes and on streets," Mr Hanson said.
He said that to for someone to be charged with consorting under the proposed Act, it must be someone who is "repeatedly and deliberately seeking out contact with known criminals".
An extensive list of associations has been excluded, as has special recognition and protections for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people in order to address an issue raised by indigenous community leader Julie Tongs
"Even more importantly, there is the additional safeguard of the ACT Ombudsman's oversight as an inbuilt review mechanism," Mr Hanson added.
Draft anti-consorting laws were proposed by former ACT Attorney General Simon Corbell in 2015 but did not get support from the Labor caucus.
"If we fail to pass this bill, we will be failing the people of the ACT," Mr Hanson said.
