Editorial: Bikie VLAD law changes - take politics out of community safety

THE State Government’s response to the review of the controversial VLAD laws is clearly still a work in progress.

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THE State Government’s response to the review of the controversial VLAD laws is clearly still a work in progress.

This is perhaps understandable given the legal complexities involved, and the sheer volume of material and recommendations, some with dissenting opinions, which Cabinet is being asked to digest.

In this respect it is sensible that the Government hastens slowly with its final response and suite of legislation to replace the existing VLAD laws with one it claims will be better equipped to tackle broader organised crime issues.

There are, however, some worrying early signs that key elements of the legislation considered vital by police in their battle against criminal bikie gangs may be watered down in the process.

Notable among these are a decision to replace the existing anti-association restrictions with anti-consorting orders, which the Government argues are effective in NSW and more likely to survive any Constitutional challenge than the current laws.

Essentially the shift means that we may see the existing provisions which prevent members of proscribed organisations from gathering, replaced with one that gives discretion to a court to impose strict conditions on people already convicted of offences, not those who merely associate.

It will be along the lines of restrictions put on people convicted of some sex or terrorism offences.

Whether this new legislation is workable in law enforcement terms is questionable. It should be noted that these recommendations in the Wilson report are majority decisions supported by neither the police union nor commissioned officers.

While there is always a delicate and, at times, contentious balance that must be struck between civil liberties and public safety, the bottom line must always be that we do not dilute our to-date effective response to criminal gangs that consider themselves outside the law.

Here, given warnings from the likes of the Crime and Corruption Commission that outlaw gangs are positioning themselves for a revival, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath’s pledge that we have not only closed the doors for criminal gangs but “are wedging them shut” will be one for which she and the Government is held accountable.

Amid all the debate that will follow the release of this report it must be remembered that former premier Campbell Newman also promised a review of the laws within three years with a view to winding back some of the more extreme measures they contained.

At the time of their introduction, against a backdrop of pitched battles on the streets of southeast Queensland, he quite rightly described them as emergency measures.

As the review notes, elements of the legislation that give sole discretion to a government minister to declare an organisation criminal, with all the punitive measures the associated VLAD provisions dictate, overrides the oversight of the judiciary and the parliament.

It also risks a situation where that power, in the wrong hands, could be abused for political purposes.

Likewise, some of the more draconian mandatory sentencing provisions, and reversal of onus of proof requirements, are the stuff of crisis that should be reviewed.

But the key is to empower the police and the courts to crush these cancers, without undermining the basic principles of judicial independence and parliamentary oversight in the process.

Take the politics out of it and we all want safer communities. If Ms Palaszczuk is true to her word and the parts of existing legislation that work are retained, and if the new template is effective in not only tackling a wider scourge of organised crime but also keeping the thugs in gang colours in check while respecting basic liberties, then voters will be happy.

But as Cabinet over the coming weeks considers the recommendations from this review in finer detail, it would be well advised to remember the old adage that you do not fix what is not broken.