Attorney-General Kyam Maher announces new legislation to declare Hells Angels Ponde property a prescribed place under state law

The Hells Angels’ stronghold at Ponde will be declared a prescribed place under new legislation just weeks after the High Court ruled in the gang’s favour.

The Hells Angels’ stronghold at Ponde will be declared a prescribed place under state law if new legislation to be put forward by the state government is passed.

On August 2, the High Court unanimously overturned the state’s declaration of Ponde, a long-time base of operations of the gang, as a “prescribed place” after an appeal from the directors of Disorganized Developments – a company that holds the lease over the property about 100km east of Adelaide.

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

It meant gang members, including Disorganized Developments directors Peter Stacey and Stephen Taylor, who occasionally live at the property could return home.

However, on Tuesday, Attorney-General Kyam Maher announced the state government would introduce a new bill which included a list of prescribed places, including the Ponde site.

Drone shots show car remains at the Hell Angels’ Ponde property during the search for evidence in two murder cases. Picture: Nine News

If the bill, which will be tabled on Thursday, passes, each location on the list will be deemed a prescribed place under SA law.

After the High Court ruling, Mr Maher foreshadowed introducing legislation that would leave the property off-limits, giving the Hells Angels three weeks to respond to plans before drafting the new laws.

“Outlaw motorcycle gangs are a scourge on our community, and declaring a location a prescribed place is an important part of our arsenal in disrupting their activities,” Mr Maher said.

“This is a pragmatic response to the situation and, if passed by parliament, will once and for all put this question beyond dispute.”

Mr Maher said the government had received some correspondence from Mr Stacey and Mr Taylor’s lawyers but had not received any “substantive submissions” about the planned law change.

“We have been very, very successful in South Australia at ridding ourselves of the scourge of the thugs and criminals that make up outlaw motorcycle gangs,” Mr Maher said.

“We will do absolutely everything we can to make sure they don’t get a foothold back here in South Australia.”

The new legislation would also see properties at Mount Gambier and Wingfield on the list of prescribed places, on advice from SA Police, Mr Maher said.

Mr Maher said legislating Ponde as a prescribed place would “have a much better chance” than the previous declaration of keeping the Hells Angels away from the property.

“It’s very difficult to see what sort of avenue you can have to challenge legislation,” he said.

The government’s original declaration of the Ponde property as a prescribed place in February 2022 came after police discovered the burnt-out remains of a car believed to have been used in the 2017 murder of Mark Boyce.

An application by the Director of Public Prosecutions to have the property surrendered to the Crown as an instrument of crime after the discovery was withdrawn after months of legal wrangling.

Attorney-General Kyam Maher said the new legislation, if passed, to declare the Ponde property a prescribed place would “once and for all put this question beyond dispute”. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Naomi Jellicoe

Mr Stacey and Mr Taylor launched an appeal against the declaration, which was dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

The High Court, including Chief Justice Susan Kiefel and Justices Stephen Gageler, Simon Steward, Jacqueline Gleeson and Jayne Jagot, unanimously upheld two grounds of appeal.

They ruled the declaration itself was so vague as to be ineffective, reinforcing that it is not the court’s place to remedy “deficient” government orders.

The court also held Mr Stacey and Mr Taylor were denied “procedural fairness” when the decision was made to make their entry on the land illegal.

The court ordered the government once again pay Disorganized Developments costs, which not only included the work of Mr Wells but noted appeals barrister Chad Jacobi KC and veteran Adelaide solicitor Jon Lister.

Mr Stacey and Mr Taylor were contacted for comment through their lawyer.

Originally published as Attorney-General Kyam Maher announces new legislation to declare Hells Angels Ponde property a prescribed place under state law