NSW bikie laws not affected by High Court ruling
November 11, 2010 - 4:10PM
The NSW government says its anti-bikie laws are different from those in South Australia and will not be affected by the High Court's decision on South Australia's legislation.
In its judgment today the High Court ruled against provisions in the South Australia legislation, which allowed for control orders to be slapped on gang members without a court having the power to see or review the evidence relied on.
The High Court sided with two members of the Finks motorcycle club who had challenged the South Australia laws, winning a judgment in the Supreme Court last year.
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NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said South Australian legislation was differently structured.
"The NSW and indeed the legislation of a number of other jurisdictions which have followed NSW is very different," Mr Hatzistergos told reporters today.
"We did take very senior constitutional advice when we drafted our legislation and that's the reason why a number of variations were undertaken in drafting NSW legislation compared to that which was enacted in South Australia.
"The issues that were the subject of the South Australian decision are not issues which parallel in the NSW case."
