Law Society of SA takes aim at state government over proposed legislation to ban Hells Angels from Ponde property after High Court ruling

Lawyers have taken aim at the state government over its handling of an ongoing dispute with two senior Hells Angels bikies set to be banned from their rural stronghold.

Lawyers have slammed the state government’s move to ban two senior Hells Angels from their Murray River stronghold under a new law just weeks after the High Court ruled in the bikies’ favour.

The Law Society of South Australia has taken aim at the state government after Attorney-General Kyam Maher introduced a bill to parliament that would see the bikies banned from their Ponde property, about 100km east of Adelaide.

The proposed legislation, which would list the property as a prescribed place under state law, came just weeks after the High Court upheld an appeal by the bikies to retain access to their long-time home away from home.

“When the High Court invokes decades of case law and finds that procedural fairness is owed to occupiers in the position of the applicants, it is prudent for the government to consider carefully the extent to which it should follow fundamental principles of natural justice,” Law Society president James Marsh told The Advertiser.

“On this occasion, the government has introduced legislation to bypass the need to afford procedural fairness when declaring a prescribed place, on the basis that it will disrupt organised crime activity.

“The state needs to be adequately equipped to combat organised crime, but introducing laws that denies land owners procedural fairness, when the denial is not based on conviction of a crime, can risk undermining some key principles that underpin the justice system.

In August, the High Court upheld an appeal by Peter Stacy and Stephen Taylor, the directors of Disorganized Developments, the company that holds the lease over the property.

Attorney-General Kyam Maher introduced the bill to parliament just weeks after the High Court declared the state government declaration of Ponde as a prescribed place was invalid. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Naomi Jellicoe

The court ruled a state government declaration of the property as a “prescribed place” and off limits for all criminal organisation members, including the Hells Angels, was invalid.

The property was declared a prescribed place after police found the burnt-out remains of a car believed to have been used in the 2017 murder of Mark Boyce.

“There is a higher risk of injustices occurring when the State abrogates the usual obligation to afford people with fundamental rights, even if the reforms are well-intentioned,” Mr Marsh said.

The Ponde property was declared a prescribed place after police found the burnt-out remains of a car believed to have been used in the 2017 murder of Mark Boyce. Picture: Nine News

In a letter to Mr Maher on Monday, Mr Marsh said the Law Society “retains some concern about the short time frame and the pace with which the amendments are being pursued”.

Mr Marsh added that the Law Society “queries the justification in abrogating any citizen’s right to procedural fairness, including the owners of the properties that were subject to the High Court’s decision”.

“The amendments will bolster Parliament’s ability to exclude people from property without being heard on the matter,” he wrote.

Mr Stacy and Mr Taylor’s lawyer Jon Lister last month said the state government had “abandoned” procedural fairness by introducing the bill, which will be debated in parliament on Tuesday.

Mr Maher last month said the state government would do “every single thing within our power” to prevent outlaw motorcycle gangs establishing a “foothold” in South Australia.