Motorcycle clubs vow to take up the fight in court

Date

October 17, 2013 - 12:01AM

Motorcycle clubs "intend on challenging" the Queensland government's anti-bikie legislation as soon as possible.

United Motorcycle Council honorary legal counsel and New South Wales barrister Wayne Baffsky said lawyers were going combing through the legislation already, while a member of the UMC said the clubs were looking at setting up a "fighting fund".

"I think the way some of the Acts have been written, there are parts we can challenge there. The first stop would be the Queensland Supreme Court," Mr Baffsky said, adding that he would not rule out a challenge to the High Court.

But for the legislation to be seriously challenged, first someone would have to be subjected to it, which Mr Baffsky said would be a daunting experience.

"The laws go considerably further than is necessary or needed and quite frankly I have never seen Acts like this in any part of the world, or anywhere in the last 50 years."

Independent motorcycle lobbyist and UMC member Russell Wattie said the laws would be addressed at the council's regular meeting in Brisbane on Thursday night.

"We're having a look at it and there are some parts we can put forward, but our advice is nothing can really be done until someone is charged," he said.

"So the ball is in the government's court."

Mr Wattie said only about "12 or 14" of the clubs listed by the legislation were presently in Queensland and "some didn't exist".

"Like the Scorpions. I have never heard of them," he said.

"And the Renegades only have one bloke and he is in jail, so that doesn't really count.

"And they have spelt some of the club names wrong in the legislation. I am not going to say which ones, but you wonder what that would mean if pressed in a court."

Mr Wattie said the clubs were looking at establishing a fighting fund.

"We are running chook raffles to fight the government who have endless tax payer dollars," he said.

"What really gets me is that they already know these laws are flawed and they went through and put them in anyway."

Premier Campbell Newman and Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie have said all along they expected the legislation to be challenged.

"We know that some of these things will be challenged," Mr Newman said on Friday last week.

"We know that some may be overturned. It doesn't matter. We are going to continue to try again. There are many mechanisms that we are going to use."

Mr Bleijie said the legislation passed in the early hours of Wednesday morning was only "phase one".

"The more they fight our legal reforms, the more we'll fight back and keep adjusting and modernising our laws," he said.

The government is hoping royal assent for the laws will be given by the end of the week. Once given, the legislation becomes law.