Top lawyer warns law to ban bikies could backfire

Rival clubs are uniting against SA's tough laws against bikies. Photo / AP

Other states considering introducing South Australia's tough anti-bikie laws should wait to see whether they are successful before implementing them, the SA Law Society says.

The legislation is designed to dismantle criminal gangs but some say it is actually having the reverse effect in SA - serving only to unite rival clubs.

Gypsy Jokers, Hell's Angels, Rebels, Finks and Descendants bikie club members have, for the first time, joined together in protest against SA's Serious and Organised Crime Control Act, which came into effect in June last year. However, after Sunday's fatal bikie bashing at Sydney airport, the Act is attracting national interest and has sparked concern among SA bikies that the reputation they've been working hard to shift has again been tarnished.

Under the act, designed to dismantle criminal bikie gangs by declaring membership with clubs illegal, police can issue 72-hour public safety orders which ban, on public safety grounds, individuals or group members from going to a public place or event.

Premier Mike Rann said yesterday that he wanted his state's anti-bikie laws put on the national agenda.

"What we saw at Sydney Airport is an outrage and we must all work together to stamp out this gang violence," Rann said.

The Act is described by the State Government as being the toughest law of its kind in the world. Both sides of the political divide in other states, including Queensland, NSW and Western Australia, have all expressed an interest in the legislation.

"The most effective way to target gang violence is to enact tough control provisions, similar to those adopted in SA, which the NSW police commissioner has already indicated he recommends," said Mike Gallacher, Liberal Party police spokesman.

President of the SA Law Society, John Goldberg, said he expected the legislation would drive outlaw motorcycle gang members out of SA and into other states.

"There is an argument for saying that if it works and is effective, it would be better if it is done on a national basis. But that doesn't mean I support it, or that I think it will be effective."

Goldberg questioned how successful the legislation would be in reducing criminal behaviour among bikies: "If you've got someone who is willing to bash someone else to death in front of hundreds of witnesses and is presumably, as a result, going to be caught and arrested for murder, why would legislation that bans freedom of association turn them into good guys?"

The SA Council of Social Services, various Aboriginal groups, the Greens and the Australian Democrats have all voiced concern about the legislation.

"This law is designed exactly to find people guilty by association," Descendants club member Tom Mackie said.

A group of motorcycling enthusiasts, including members of opposing clubs, have formed a legitimate political party known as the FREE Australia Party.

The party's leader, Paul Kuhn - a scooter-riding Justice of the Peace - said it formed because of deep concern anyone associated with a member of a club would be found guilty under the law.

"The Government is now controlling and dictating relationships," he said. "Not all bikers are criminals and this Act doesn't differentiate between the two."

However, Rann said the lawyers who represented bikies and civil libertarians had painted an "almost fairytale concoction" that could lead the public to believe gang members had been awarded Australian of the Year.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," he said. "[Bikies] are amongst the most heinous criminals in our society and the police need all the help they can get [to] rid the streets of these violent, drug peddling criminals and thugs."

- AAP