A special $64 million national anti bikie-gang strike force was rolled out this morning – with South Australia left out in the cold.
Attorney-General John Rau admitted today he wasn’t aware of today’s move which will see several state and federal governments combine as part of on ongoing crackdown on bikies.
The national crackdown was announced in Melbourne with Victorian Premier Dennis Napthine unveiling a state strike team “to crack down on bikie gangs as part of the $64 million National Anti-Gangs Squad”.
The strike team will include officers from Victoria Police, Australian Federal Police and the Australian Tax Office.
They will be supported by surveillance teams, proceeds of crime investigators and technical specialists and will link back to the National Anti-Gang Squad in Canberra.
Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the Victorian team would begin operating immediately.
Keenan said the Australian Anti-Gangs Intelligence Coordination Centre would be moved to come under the Australian Crime Commission to coordinate a national intelligence response to organised criminal gangs.
Today’s announcement caught the South Australian Government off-guard.
Asked on ABC Radio this morning if he knew about the new arrangement Attorney General Rau said he didn’t, but Victoria might be playing “catch-up”.
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“Well I don’t know exactly what their plans are,” he said.
“It might be they’re planning on working their way around the Commonwealth and they’ve started with Victoria, I don’t know.
“All I can say is our people here in South Australia are and have been for some time along way ahead of Victoria.
“Victoria has been playing catch up in terms of monitoring and controlling these groups.
“It wasn’t that long ago, probably in the last five years, when Victoria’s official position was they didn’t actually have a problem.”
The Attorney-General said he would welcome similar support from the national task force.
” I welcome it and I’d be happy to be involved if the Commonwealth want to extend any assistance to us. Absolutely welcome it .
“But just bear in mind, it’s not a case here where South Australia has chosen not to be involved, it’s where the Commonwealth has chosen Victoria to be their dance partner and that’s good. All I’m saying is if they want to invite us to participate as well, it sounds terrific.”
Federal Minister Keenan also announced that Customs and Border Protection had established Operation Hades, which will have officers working closely with AFP officers and the Australian Crime Commission to stop criminals coming in to Australia.
“Organised criminal gangs are often national gangs and they have very significant international links,” he told reporters in Melbourne.
“We want to make sure that they are stopped at the border before they can come and do Australia any harm.”
Napthine said the establishment of the strike team was a significant step forward in dealing with criminal gangs in Victoria.
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“We understand that these criminal, outlaw motorcycle gangs are a problem in our state, they’re a national problem and they’re a problem that must be tackled with rigour, with force and with determination,” he said.
Napthine said there was no place in Victoria for criminal bikie gangs.
“These gangs are involved in drugs, they’re involved in violence, they’re involved in extortion, they’re involved in stand-over tactics, they put the community at risk,” he said.
“They have repositories of weapons, they have violent behaviour and often that violent behaviour is in public places putting the public, the innocent public at risk.
“It is totally and utterly unacceptable.”
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Steve Fontana said the joint relationship of the organised crime taskforce would enhance police capability.
“Embedding additional resources to tackle outlaw motorcycle gangs will continue to enhance our capability to disrupt and make it a hostile environment for these motorcycle gangs,” he said.
Fontana said Victoria’s Echo and Santiago anti-bikie taskforces would coordinate activities with the organised crime taskforce.
Earlier this month, Victorian police staged the largest raid on a single club when it swooped on Hells Angels clubhouses and members’ homes, seizing guns, ammunition, drugs and cash.
Queensland recently passed tough new laws to stop bikie gang crime, and NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione has called for national laws to address the problem.
Keenan said a NSW anti-bikie strike team would be announced shortly.
However he was critical of tough anti-bikie legislation introduced by the Victorian and Queensland governments.
“The approach announced today by Michael Keenan, standing there with the Victorian premier, is very different,” he told Sky News.
“That’s about resourcing, it’s about cooperation, it’s about using existing laws and I think that people who have been critical of the Queensland government are making a very good point.
“We have to be careful not to simply rush to toughen laws. At the end of the day law enforcement is all about the actual resources you can bring to bear, the actual personnel.”
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