The conservatives were back in power for the first time in 14 years and had more pressing matters to deal with than crime gangs.

But the Broadbeach bikie brawl on September 27, 2013 changed everything.

Mr Newman was halfway through his single term in office and initially had no idea how pivotal the battle between a Bandidos crew led by Jacques Teamo and Finks member Jason Trouchet and associate Matthew Jason Sward would change the course of his government and put law-and-order front and centre.

“Look, early in the piece (in his time as LNP leader) I had very much a bit of a live-and-let live approach, and I was asked if bikie colours should be banned or they should be banned from wearing them in public and I said, oh, no,” he recalled this week.

“It was more that we shouldn’t be taking action on people because of the clothes they wear, the colour of their skin.

On September 27, 2013 more than 60 Bandidos led by Teamo flooded into central Broadbeach started a brawl with rival Finks bikies Trouchet and Sward.

A handful of police tried to hold the line and were left yelling for back-up.

“The people who triggered the whole crackdown were people who proceeded to show they didn’t respect the law and didn’t care about the safety of mums and dads and kids and that’s why we had to act. None of that would have ever happened if they hadn’t rioted.

“I wasn’t on a trajectory to go after bikie gangs prior to that night.”

The then-premier was overseas on a trade mission at the time of the riot but was immediately notified by his staff of the chaos in Broadbeach.

After speaking with Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek, who witnessed the aftermath of the brawl, Police Minister Jack Dempsey and Police Commissioner Ian Stewart, a decision was made to launch a crackdown.

“I met with the Commissioner and I said, look, we expect very strong action and expect you to deal with it and your senior officers to deal with it,” he said.

“You’ll be supported and you’ll have the resources you need, so you need to tell us what you need but if you don’t deal with it, you’ve got to know that your job’s on the line.

“And to his credit, the commissioner, Ian Stewart, rose to the occasion and history shows that they did a very good job on it at the end.”

Political pressure for an end to the bikie tensions which had loomed over the city during the previous seven years grew as well, with Mayor Tom Tate demanding action and declaring he was “ropeable”.

“If I had my way, I’d smash every single one of the bikies’ Harley Davidsons like guitars,” he said at the time.

Mr Newman recalls being shocked, not just by the events which unfolded on the street as he watched on from afar.

“I was shocked for a range of reasons, firstly because it happened in a place where families had every right to feel safe and without fear,” he said.

“I was shocked because it was quite clear that it was just beyond the pale and yet they allowed this to then accelerate and get out of hand.

“I was shocked because when the police turned up, they basically then did battle with the police and clearly weren’t concerned about it while the final thing that really made me very concerned was the way that they gave siege to the watch-house.

“They fronted up there to demand that people who had been arrested should be released and showed absolutely no respect for the law and for the safety of the public or the authority of the police and the government had to send a strong message to them.”

However the former Premier also was less than impressed with the Queensland Police Service’s handling of Bikies.

“There were two broad problems – One was the legislation but the other thing was of course, to get the police to take action,” he said.

“It was about reinforcing that they had political support to take action, which they really frankly shouldn’t have needed to hear, but they had to be told that.

“They also had to be told they’d get the resources but they also needed a fair bit of pressure on them because the night of the riot, there seemed to be what I call an inappropriate relationship where police on the Coast were talking to the Sergeant-at-Arms of the group and saying, what are you doing? sort of thing.

“It’s like, I’m sorry, I have a real problem with that, the idea that the police would engage in almost negotiations with people involved in a criminal enterprise. I just didn’t think it was appropriate.”

Mr Newman returned to Australia and announced a range of measure including a $5m pool of rewards for people dobbing in bikies to CrimeStoppers, recalling top cops Brett Pointing and Jim Keogh to lead elite bikie hunting taskforces and $15m to market the city positively.

Then, just two weeks later the Vicious Lawless Associate Disestablishment (VLAD) laws were introduced.