Carindale gym stabbing: Palaszczuk Govt’s watered down laws a green light to unfettered bikie violence

Queensland is in the grip of bikie violence thanks to the Palaszczuk government giving gang members the green light to maim and kill, writes Peter Gleeson.

Once again, Queensland is in the grip of unfettered bikie violence and unfortunately police are losing the fight to stop the killings.

Watered down laws under the Palaszczuk Government have given gang members the green light to maim and kill, and it is clear bikies have no fear of law enforcement as they go about their daily lives of trafficking drugs and standing over people.

Not one bikie has been convicted in the past few years under Queensland’s so-called “tougher’’ consorting laws aimed at cracking down on gangs.

Like youth justice, the Palaszczuk Government talks a big game on keeping bikies under control, but it squibs it at the 11th hour.

Levi Johnson was stabbed and killed at Carindale.

Former premier Campbell Newman did plenty wrong during his three year tenure from 2012-2015, but cracking down hard on bikies was not one of them.

The Newman Government acted swiftly and decisively after the so-called Broadbeach bikie blitz in 2014, when innocent restaurant patrons were dragged into a frenzied bikie shooting.

It dismantled the bikie laws to ensure they could not consort – banning colours in public and introducing tougher prison sentences – but the bikie gangs are now back bigger and uglier than ever.

Shane Bowden was gunned down in his car in 2020

Yesterday’s brazen daylight killing in Carindale, where a man linked to the Comancheros was stabbed to death by five men, shows that authorities have a long way to go to stopping bikie-related violence.

Police last month charged more bikie-associated people of the cold-blooded assassination of former Finks member Shane Bowden, gunned down in his car in 2020.

It’s time for the Palaszczuk Government to take a leaf out of Campbell Newman’s playbook. Picture: Jack Tran

He was shot 21 times in his driveway. In NSW, we see similar stories of wanton murder involving bikie retribution.

The Carindale incident shows bikies remain motivated and hungry to exact retribution towards rival gang members.

The problem is that innocent people can sometimes get caught up in the crossfire. That’s when it affects us all.

It’s time for the Palaszczuk Government to take a leaf out of Newman’s playbook and start getting fair dinkum about bikie violence. It must end.

The law right now is a toothless tiger.

Police attend the scene of a fatal stabbing in Carindale near the Goodlife Health Club. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT