Multicultural Australia an appeal for banned biker group Satudarah

A globally-banned Outlaw Motorcycle Gang has now set up chapters in every state in Australia in what authorities fear could lead to a turf war with other established criminal bikie groups.

A globally-banned Outlaw Motorcycle Gang has now set up chapters in every state in Australia in what authorities fear could lead to a turf war with other established criminal bikie groups.

Five years ago, police famously declared the feared and little understood Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (OMCG) Satudarah had been successfully ejected from Australia before it could get a foothold in the country.

There was a high-profile NSW raid and arrests and senior members were questioned at Gold Coast airport and in South Australia as Dutch police formally warned Australian Federal Police of the group’s global expansion plan.

But not only has the group returned it has flourished apparently setting up chapters in every state in Australia including four in Queensland, attracting disaffected bikies looking to defect from other warring bikie groups.

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Five years ago police declared the Satudarah had been successfully ejected from Australia.

In an exclusive interview with News Corp Australia, its national president said Satudarah’s ethnic traditions based on persecuted Indonesian migrants to the Netherlands had struck a note with multicultural Australia looking for a culture club.

But the OMCG’s Melbourne-based national president Ricky, who declined to give his surname, said authorities had nothing to fear with the group just wanting to ride bikes and be a home for ethnic minorities and others looking for a clean club.

“You look at our track record we have never been in trouble in Queensland but out of nowhere we got banned and in NSW there was misinformation from police, they didn’t shut us down, they went on about shutting this and that but effectively they came down and made two arrests.

Satudarah’s ethnic traditions based on persecuted Indonesian migrants to the Netherlands have struck a note with multicultural Australia. Picture: Supplied

“We have a presence in all states including Tasmania. Canberra is fairly new for us, a new development and that came about from a patch over from another club … I don’t know why all the big fuss.

“A majority of our members come from other clubs and we have grown significantly in the last couple of years but you don’t hear about us, only now and then when little guys start f***ing up but you don’t hear about us.”

Ricky, who works in the construction industry in Melbourne, said most members would not use their colours and as perquisite of membership is to be able to ride a bike and have a full time job.

Satudarah in Indonesia held a large rally with members from all over the world including Australia. Picture: Supplied

“Within the last year we turned down an Australian club, barred them, when they wanted to join us and they had more than 100 members … we don’t want clubhouses or money we are a family club,” the 35-year-old said.

The AFP confirmed Satudarah had re-emerged and were concerned how more well established OMCG groups would respond.

AFP Federal Agent Brendan O’Hearn said Satudarah had been selling itself as more accepting of different groups of people wanting to join which may have proved attractive for some.

“They are trying to establish themselves in Australia no doubt, Queensland yes, but not all the states but certainly trying to establish themselves in most of the states with varying degrees of success,” he said.

“One blood is what Satudarah stands for (in Malay) and I guess the acceptance of all ethnicities of all people where as other motorcycle gangs have been more an ethnic based club — I won’t say white supremacist but certainly the origins were for example Hells Angels basically banned any non-white people joining the club and that’s why the Mongols formed in contrast to that.

Satudarah bikies in Indonesia. Picture: Supplied

Where as Satudarah sells themselves as more accepting of different groups of people which may be attractive for some wanting to join a club. Jacob has been influential in trying to set up clubs here in Australia.”

Jacob, a former Dutch soldier is the bikie group’s Indonesian based president leading chapters in South East Asia. He is soon to retire but not before he sees the club successfully operating in Australia. In Indonesia, Satudarah is seen more as a social club with open rides and mass gatherings at bars in different locations, predominantly Jakarta and Bali.

“Australia is independent within the Satudarah structure like every country,” he said. “In the start I was involved with Australia to make sure that the club culture and traditions were preserved and basic rules followed. Outside these guidelines Australia has their own rules and regulations based on local traditions.”

Members of the new Satudarah Northern NSW/Gold Coast chapter. Picture: Supplied

He said while he knows the connotations that come with being an OMCG in Australia, that was not what Satudarah, which is largely seen as a social family club in Indonesia, was bringing.

Satudarah’s membership in Australia includes a lot of Pacific Islanders and indigenous Australians as well as Eastern Europeans and Dutch. Just how many members they have is unknown but believed to be in the low one hundreds. For context, according to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission Australia has 40 recognised OMCGs with fully patched membership of 4700 members, 4500 associates and 957 “prospects” or junior members still seeking induction.

In June last year Satudarah, which started in 1990 in Moordrecht in South Holland by Moluccan migrants, was banned by Dutch authorities in the Netherlands.

“We have a different way of thinking when you think of a typical bikie it is not us, us we don’t believe in their things,” Ricky said. “We have very big values of tradition and we carry on those traditions of Satudarah which is based on unity and diversity. We have within our club full active serving members of the military we have medics, people who work within government bodies and most of these guys you will not see a patch on them. They are members but won’t wear a patch except when we have national meetings and that’s what makes us different we don’t parade about in colours.”

He added: “We’re different, nobody will understand us and we don’t expect them to but we’d like a voice because most of the public will be shocked to know 99 per cent of us are hard working people.”

Originally published as Multicultural Australia an appeal for banned biker group Satudarah