Mackie brothers Tom and Perry launch court action to fight deportation order

Descendants bikies Tom and Perry Mackie have launched Federal Court action to fight their deportation order from Australia.

The two founding members of the Descendants – Tom Mackie, pictured, and Perry Mackie – have launched Federal Court action to have the order revoking their visas quashed.

Adelaide bikie gang leaders Tom and Perry Mackie are fighting moves to deport them from Australia.

The two founding members of the Descendants have launched Federal Court action to have the order revoking their visas quashed.

Federal Court documents reveal the pair both lodged applications for a judicial review of the orders on December 29 – a week after they were taken into custody in dawn raids and advised they were being deported to New Zealand.

The applications are accompanied by extensive affidavits detailing the grounds for the application and opposing the reasons given by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton for cancelling their visas.

No date has yet been set for the first hearing in the applications and no response has yet been filed by lawyers acting for the Department of Home Affairs.

On December 22 The Advertiser revealed the pair had been detained in dawn raids and secretly flown to Melbourne’s Broadmeadows detention facility under heavy security.

The pair were arrested at their respective homes at Ingle Farm and Prospect in a carefully co-ordinated joint operation involving Home Affairs, Border Force, SA police, Federal police and the Australian Taxation Office.

Perry Mackie.

Tom Mackie.

Tom Mackie, 65, and Perry Mackie, 64, founded the Descendants in 1974. Police believe elements of the gang are heavily involved in South Australia’s multimillion-dollar methamphetamine trade.

Over the past two years members of the gang have been targeted by a joint-agency taskforce, dubbed Operation Jarmo. The operation was launched following the detection of several large methamphetamine hauls imported into Australia.

The Mackie brothers are the latest bikies to be deported from Australia on character grounds. So far more than 300 bikies and organised figures have been booted out, including failed gang leader and petty criminal Vince Focarelli, Albanian organised crime figure Lenny Gjeka and senior Mongols bikie Andrew Stevens.

While many South Australian’s targeted for deportation have launched Federal Court action to have the order overturned, just one – former Commanchero Paul Burgess – succeeded in having it quashed after a lengthy legal fight.

Shortly after the Mackie brothers were detained, Border Force special investigations commander Greg Lindsell said the legislation allowed the government to revoke the visa of any individual on character grounds.

“Any non-citizen with an extensive criminal history and involvement with a criminal organisation, such as an OMCG, can expect to have their Australian visa cancelled and to be removed from our country,’’ he said.

The Mackie brothers were among 11 Descendants bikies arrested early last year following a brawl at a Blair Athol car yard. They were on bail awaiting trial on charges relating to that incident when detained last month.