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Queensland laws on bikie gangs and sex offenders will fail: Tony Fitzgerald

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THE man who presided over Queensland's historic corruption inquiry has launched a scathing attack on the Newman government's bikie and sex offender laws.

Tony Fitzgerald QC has warned Queenslanders not to be duped by laws he views as dangerous.

This month, the government gave itself the power to bypass the courts and keep some sex offenders in jail indefinitely.

Parliament also passed new laws that mean judges must now impose two sentences on criminal bikie gang members who commit a serious crime - one for the crime itself and another for being part of a declared criminal gang.

Mr Fitzgerald says Queenslanders should understand the gravity of the laws, which he warns are likely to fail.

New laws will fail, Fitzgerald says
 

"History teaches us that claims that repressive laws will reduce serious crime are usually hollow and that laws which erode individual freedom and expand a state's power over its citizens are fraught with peril," he writes in an opinion piece in The Courier-Mail.

He says parliament could chose to enact any law.

But parliamentarians "don't have a 'mandate' to give effect to prejudices and ill-informed opinions, ignore ethics and conventions or attack fundamental values such as personal freedom or essential institutions such as the judiciary".

Mr Fitzgerald says both sets of laws are populist and suggests they exploit the fears of less-educated Queenslanders.

He cites Wikipedia's definition for a demagogue, saying it provides an uncomfortable insight into modern politics.

"A demagogue ... is a political leader in a democracy who appeals to the emotions, fears, prejudices, and ignorance of the less-educated citizens in order to gain power and promote political motives."

Mr Fitzgerald is also scathing about how the government has handled concern about its laws.

Last week, Premier Campbell Newman called critics of the sex offender laws "apologists" for pedophiles.

"It is extremely arrogant and socially destructive for politicians to slander citizens who disagree with their 'political solution' or to denigrate the judicial branch of government and its generally conservative judges, who must make sometimes unpopular decisions in accordance with the law and available evidence and their oath of office," Mr Fitzgerald writes.

"And it is incomprehensible that any rational Queenslander who is even remotely aware of the state's recent history could for a moment consider reintroducing political interference into the administration of criminal justice, even to the point of making decisions about incarceration."

Mr Fitzgerald said he wrote the piece as a private citizen who was not aligned with any political party.

"I am a private citizen who has noticed that more problems are solved by thoughtful discussion than political grandstanding and personal abuse," he said.

The premier's office declined to directly address Mr Fitzgerald's criticisms today.

A spokesman for Mr Newman said the government was simply delivering on its plan to make Queensland safe.

- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/queensland-laws-on-bikie-gangs-and-sex-offenders-will-fail-tony-fitzgerald/story-e6frgczx-1226748089355#sthash.sNKVnMFQ.dpuf

Queensland laws on bikie gangs and sex offenders will fail: Tony Fitzgerald

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To get going, simply connect with your favourite social network:

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THE man who presided over Queensland's historic corruption inquiry has launched a scathing attack on the Newman government's bikie and sex offender laws.

Tony Fitzgerald QC has warned Queenslanders not to be duped by laws he views as dangerous.

This month, the government gave itself the power to bypass the courts and keep some sex offenders in jail indefinitely.

Parliament also passed new laws that mean judges must now impose two sentences on criminal bikie gang members who commit a serious crime - one for the crime itself and another for being part of a declared criminal gang.

Mr Fitzgerald says Queenslanders should understand the gravity of the laws, which he warns are likely to fail.

New laws will fail, Fitzgerald says
 

"History teaches us that claims that repressive laws will reduce serious crime are usually hollow and that laws which erode individual freedom and expand a state's power over its citizens are fraught with peril," he writes in an opinion piece in The Courier-Mail.

He says parliament could chose to enact any law.

But parliamentarians "don't have a 'mandate' to give effect to prejudices and ill-informed opinions, ignore ethics and conventions or attack fundamental values such as personal freedom or essential institutions such as the judiciary".

Mr Fitzgerald says both sets of laws are populist and suggests they exploit the fears of less-educated Queenslanders.

He cites Wikipedia's definition for a demagogue, saying it provides an uncomfortable insight into modern politics.

"A demagogue ... is a political leader in a democracy who appeals to the emotions, fears, prejudices, and ignorance of the less-educated citizens in order to gain power and promote political motives."

Mr Fitzgerald is also scathing about how the government has handled concern about its laws.

Last week, Premier Campbell Newman called critics of the sex offender laws "apologists" for pedophiles.

"It is extremely arrogant and socially destructive for politicians to slander citizens who disagree with their 'political solution' or to denigrate the judicial branch of government and its generally conservative judges, who must make sometimes unpopular decisions in accordance with the law and available evidence and their oath of office," Mr Fitzgerald writes.

"And it is incomprehensible that any rational Queenslander who is even remotely aware of the state's recent history could for a moment consider reintroducing political interference into the administration of criminal justice, even to the point of making decisions about incarceration."

Mr Fitzgerald said he wrote the piece as a private citizen who was not aligned with any political party.

"I am a private citizen who has noticed that more problems are solved by thoughtful discussion than political grandstanding and personal abuse," he said.

The premier's office declined to directly address Mr Fitzgerald's criticisms today.

A spokesman for Mr Newman said the government was simply delivering on its plan to make Queensland safe.

- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/queensland-laws-on-bikie-gangs-and-sex-offenders-will-fail-tony-fitzgerald/story-e6frgczx-1226748089355#sthash.sNKVnMFQ.dpuf

Queensland laws on bikie gangs and sex offenders will fail: Tony Fitzgerald

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Hi D Discover news with your friends. Give it a try.
To get going, simply connect with your favourite social network:

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THE man who presided over Queensland's historic corruption inquiry has launched a scathing attack on the Newman government's bikie and sex offender laws.

Tony Fitzgerald QC has warned Queenslanders not to be duped by laws he views as dangerous.

This month, the government gave itself the power to bypass the courts and keep some sex offenders in jail indefinitely.

Parliament also passed new laws that mean judges must now impose two sentences on criminal bikie gang members who commit a serious crime - one for the crime itself and another for being part of a declared criminal gang.

Mr Fitzgerald says Queenslanders should understand the gravity of the laws, which he warns are likely to fail.

New laws will fail, Fitzgerald says
 

"History teaches us that claims that repressive laws will reduce serious crime are usually hollow and that laws which erode individual freedom and expand a state's power over its citizens are fraught with peril," he writes in an opinion piece in The Courier-Mail.

He says parliament could chose to enact any law.

But parliamentarians "don't have a 'mandate' to give effect to prejudices and ill-informed opinions, ignore ethics and conventions or attack fundamental values such as personal freedom or essential institutions such as the judiciary".

Mr Fitzgerald says both sets of laws are populist and suggests they exploit the fears of less-educated Queenslanders.

He cites Wikipedia's definition for a demagogue, saying it provides an uncomfortable insight into modern politics.

"A demagogue ... is a political leader in a democracy who appeals to the emotions, fears, prejudices, and ignorance of the less-educated citizens in order to gain power and promote political motives."

Mr Fitzgerald is also scathing about how the government has handled concern about its laws.

Last week, Premier Campbell Newman called critics of the sex offender laws "apologists" for pedophiles.

"It is extremely arrogant and socially destructive for politicians to slander citizens who disagree with their 'political solution' or to denigrate the judicial branch of government and its generally conservative judges, who must make sometimes unpopular decisions in accordance with the law and available evidence and their oath of office," Mr Fitzgerald writes.

"And it is incomprehensible that any rational Queenslander who is even remotely aware of the state's recent history could for a moment consider reintroducing political interference into the administration of criminal justice, even to the point of making decisions about incarceration."

Mr Fitzgerald said he wrote the piece as a private citizen who was not aligned with any political party.

"I am a private citizen who has noticed that more problems are solved by thoughtful discussion than political grandstanding and personal abuse," he said.

The premier's office declined to directly address Mr Fitzgerald's criticisms today.

A spokesman for Mr Newman said the government was simply delivering on its plan to make Queensland safe.

- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/queensland-laws-on-bikie-gangs-and-sex-offenders-will-fail-tony-fitzgerald/story-e6frgczx-1226748089355#sthash.sNKVnMFQ.dpuf

Financial crackdown on Australia's $10 billion bikie gang economy

 
 
THIRTEEN members of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang have been snared in the first phase of a financial crackdown on the booming $10 billion bikie economy.

A News Corp Australia investigation has found the outlaw gangs have evolved into a highly sophisticated web of legal and illegal business with annual revenues rivalling financial conglomerate Macquarie Group.

The Tax Office and corporate watchdogs have joined forces with police to chase the paper trail, starting with Australia's biggest bikie gang, the Rebels.

News Corp Australia can reveal that $9 million has been recouped in unpaid taxes, interest charges and penalties from detailed audits of 10 Rebels members. Three more audits are yet to be finalised.

Overall, 117 members of the 1200 strong Rebels group had failed to lodge a tax return.

The financial crackdown is part of the "Attero Taskforce" which this month also led to the arrest by NSW police of 12 Rebels members for crimes including a drive-by shooting and the sexual assault of a teenage girl. It is understood NSW Rebels members are among those audited.

Outlaw motorcycle clubs in Queensland are seeking to muster the financial resources to fund a High Court appeal against the Campbell government's tough new bikie laws, enacted after the violent Broadbeach bikie brawl.

In Victoria's prisons are on high alert for potential clashes between badged inmates.

In South Australian police this week sized more than $150 million in drugs from a group with direct links to the Descendants motorcycle gang.

In an exclusive interview, the Tax Office's assistant commissioner of serious non compliance, Phil Jones, said the majority of Rebels members were taxpaying wage earners.

But a core group possessed "unexplained wealth" including luxury cars, homes or boats and had suspiciously complex financial arrangements like trusts, partnerships and companies that had led to a detailed audit of their accounts.

"There's a mix across the group. A lot of the members are just ordinary salary and wage taxpayers. We would try to identify where there has been wealth accumulated and a lifestyle not commensurate with declared income," Mr Jones explained.

The three most common industries for Rebels were construction, transport and retail trades.

The head of operations at the Australian Crime Commission, Richard Grant, told News Corp Australia the financial crackdown against the Rebels under the "Attero Taskforce" would now be extended to all outlaw motorcycle groups through the recently established anti-gangs intelligence centre within the Commission.

"It has not stopped. It will not stop," Mr Grant he said.

A new Australian Gangs Intelligence Coordination Centre has been established within the Australian Crime Commission to continue the interrogation of bikie gang finances with support and data from the Tax Office, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, Customs, the Department of Immigration and Centrelink.

Authorities are building a picture of a multi-billion dollar bikie economy, comprising a web of legal and illegal businesses, including drugs production and distribution, private security, weapons trafficking, smash repairs, extortion, prostitution, car rebirthing, tattoo parlours, tow truck operations and vitamin stores.

"A lot of them don't even have bikes," Mr Grant said. "What we are seeing is a higher level of sophistication, more infiltration into legitimate business, increasing use of professional facilitators ... and an increasing tempo of that infiltration."

The number of bikie gang chapters in Australia has exploded over the past decade by nearly 50 per cent, ACC statistics show. There are now 44 separate bikie gangs in Australia, with 179 chapters throughout the country and 4,483 members.

A criminal barrister and senior lecturer in law enforcement at Charles Sturt University, Hugh McDermott, said it was hard to put a precise figure on the size of the bikie gang economy, but including associates - like lawyers, accountants and chemists - the entire business would be approaching $10 billion in annual revenues.

"The networks are huge. You're talking into the billions of dollars," Dr McDermott told News Corp Australia.

Of the $15 billion that the Australian Crime Commission estimates organised crime costs the economy a year, Mr McDermott estimated bikie gangs accounted for "two thirds" of activity.

According to IBIS World, the financial conglomerate Macquarie Group declared revenues of $9.9 billion in 2013.

"It's all about the money," Dr McDermott said. "It's very rare that you have individuals not doing it for the money. They enjoy the lifestyle the violence, the ego, but it' really comes down to the money. This is a major corporate operation."

"Everyone has this image of bikies as thugs beating the hell out of each other in airports. But the guys that really run things are sophisticated and have very strong support networks around them of professionals like lawyers, chemists, bankers, accountants. They are well organised and well protected."

Dr McDermott said bikie gangs had overtaken the Russian and Italian mafias to become the most serious element of organised crime in Australia but that recent efforts by authorities were helping to disrupt their business.

"If you keep taking money off them, taking their toys off them and disrupting their businesses it makes it much harder."

 

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