Shane Martin, father of Dustin Martin, to be deported over bikie links

The allegedly senior Rebels bikie gang official will be sent back to NZ as part of Peter Dutton’s ‘war on gangs’.

Richmond AFL star Dustin Martin and, inset, his father Shane.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has defended moves to deport the father of AFL star Dustin Martin — allegedly a top-ranking official with the Rebels bikie gang — as part of the government’s “war on outlaw motorcycle gangs”.

Australian Border Force officials and NSW police yesterday detained Shane Martin and ordered that he be deported to his homeland of New Zealand on grounds of his poor character.

Mr Dutton, answering questions about the operation in Melbourne, would not apologise for doing “whatever is within the law” to target people who were involved in bikie gangs, “particularly at the higher levels”.

“I can confirm that I took a decision based on the advice available to me to cancel the visa of Mr Shane Martin,” Mr Dutton said.

“The hierarchy of outlaw motorcycle gangs should hear the message very clearly that we’re going to continue this operation until we can wipe out outlaw motorcycle gangs because they are the biggest distributors of amphetamines and illicit drugs in this country.”

Mr Dutton said more than 80 bikie gang members or associates had had visas cancelled or refused since mid-2014. They were chiefly New Zealanders but also from Britain, Denmark, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq and Vietnam.

They have also included Alex Vella, a Maltese man identified as the chieftain of the Rebels motorcycle gang.

“Our government is very happy to declare war on outlaw motorcycle gang members because they are peddling in drugs, they are causing misery to mums and dads who have teenage children who are buying drugs from outlaw motorcycle gang members.

“Gang members are involved in extortion and are having a huge impact, negative impact, on small business people around the country and much, much more.”

Justice Minister Michael Keenan said agencies were also executing search warrants of bikie clubhouses, investigating their tax and welfare payments and monitoring their travel and business activities.

“There are 38 active OMCGs in Australia, they include an estimated 4,500 individuals and those individuals have an estimated 2500 associates,” Mr Keenan said in a statement.

“These are not harmless motorcycle clubs — they are well organised criminal gangs peddling harms such as ice, or illegal guns across our country and into our communities.”

Mr Keenan said lawyers and accountants who were suspected of facilitating organised crime were also under surveillance.