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Compromise deal finalised on bikies

Jul 29, 2015
Bikie colours, including the Phoenix - not to be confused with the law-abiding South Australian club.

Bikie colours, including the Phoenix - not to be confused with the law-abiding South Australian club.

UPDATED: The State Government and the Opposition have hammered out a compromise to ensure the passage of the latest legislative attempt to crack down on outlaw motorcycle gangs.

The deal involves amendments to the Government’s Bill, including removing 17 interstate motorcycle gangs that were included in the original Bill.

The compromise means only 10 of the original list of declared criminal organisations will remain in the legislation.

The proposed laws will effectively declare membership of outlaw gangs a criminal act, banning people from wearing club colours or accessories in licensed venues or from appearing in public with two or more other members of a declared gang.

As InDaily revealed in June, the original list of 27 declared criminal organisations included an interstate club with the same name as legal South Australian racing club, the Phoenix Motorcycle Club of SA.

Attorney-General John Rau said today that he had agreed to amendments after discussions with the Police Commissioner Grant Stevens.

“Following discussions with the Opposition, we are offering a set of amendments in the hope that this will enable the bill to pass in the next two days,” he said.

“I was only prepared to offer this compromise after discussions with the Police Commissioner confirmed that this bill still contains all of their priority targets.”

He said the compromise was “a victory for common sense”.

The 10 groups remaining on the list represented a “clear and present danger”. If those taken off the list arrived in South Australia, it would take at least 10 days to outlaw them through regulation.

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said he believed his party had improved the legislation through the negotiations, and they would be supporting it when it came to a vote tonight.

However, he indicated some Liberals would cross the floor, saying “very few” would vote against the legislation.

“The Liberal Party’s never been weak on crime; what we want to be is effective on crime,” he said.

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