Crackdown on bikies’ trade rights put on hold

CONTROVERSIAL laws to cancel the work licences of Queensland tradesman with alleged links to bikies have been shelved by the Newman government.

CONTROVERSIAL laws to cancel the work licences of Queensland tradesman with alleged links to bikies have been shelved by the Newman government weeks before they were to come into force.

Attorney-General Jarrod ­Bleijie confirmed the crackdown on the 240,000-strong workforce had been put on hold despite the laws — which involved using ­secret police intelligence in closed court hearings — being applied to the security, locksmith and tattoo industries from July 1.

The move comes as Mr Bleijie yesterday faced calls to resign over alleged breaches of confidentiality in his selection of new Queensland chief justice Tim Carmody and just a week after scrapping laws requiring unions to ballot their members before funding political campaigns.

Mr Bleijie said the government wanted to wait to consider the findings of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption before forging ahead with the laws, requiring tradesmen to prove they had cut links to bikie gangs or face automatic deregistration.

Under the terms of reference, the commission has to report by December 31 and its findings may not be released publicly for several months later, possibly, after the next state election, due in March next year.

The wider crackdown on outlaw motorcycle gangs — including a 23-hour a day lockdown on jailed bikies and mandatory sentencing — has been shown to be unpopular in successive state polls.

Queensland union leaders had also threatened a High Court challenge if any tradesman lost their work licence under the laws.

“This has nothing to do with the inquiry, it’s about the timing of the next state election,’’ Electrical Trades Union secretary Peter Simpson said.

But Mr Bleijie said the government wanted to wait for the royal commission report.

“Our reforms have already made huge headway against the gangs and reduced crime but there may be further issues that need to be addressed when the royal commission’s report is handed down, so it’s prudent to wait for its findings,’’ he said.

The government has also watered down the laws, which will still apply to bouncers, locksmiths and tattooists. “If their licence application raises a flag, they will have an opportunity to show they have disassociated or intend to disassociate,’’ he said.

Mr Bleijie yesterday wouldn’t respond to calls by the Australian Bar Association for him to resign over the way he handled the appointment of Mr Carmody, only appointed last year as Queensland’s chief magistrate.

Queensland Bar Association president Peter Davis QC resigned on Friday over the controversial appointment.