It sounds as if Queensland Premier Campbell Newman is trying to reinstate the old " Consorting law " as a weapon against the new breed of bikie gangs. His proposal to make it illegal for as little as three people on motorbikes to ride together would probably have to survive a high court challenge.
" Consorting " laws are probably still on the law statutes, but how long since someone was actually charged with consorting ? Known, convicted criminals were once forbidden to associate - even socially - with one another and the police used this law to harass career criminals.
We certainly have a problem with the bikie gangs and their drug involvement but legislating them out of existence seems more a pipe dream than reality. Will it become illegal to ride a lawfully owned and registered motorcycle ? Can an assembly of people who describe themselves as a " Motorcycle club " be legally prohibited from meeting together - and riding in one another's company ?
A prime consideration will be the use of " colours". The fact that members proudly display their badge of membership on their backs both intimidates the police and others - and serves to advertise the numerical strength of that particular club. If they remove their colours - will that become the divide between ordinary citizen and club member ?
We seem to be backing away from the concept that to be termed a criminal a person first had to be convicted of a crime. We have many in our community who sympathise with the aims of al Qaeda terrorists - but they are free to come and go until they actually break a law. They may actually freely voice their support for al Qaeda aims, but the line to be crossed to invoke a law breach is actual criminal activity.
There seems to be a note of desperation in this reach into the law books to create new offences which can only be applied to selected members of the general public. The parliament has the right to enact new laws, but that right is limited by reference to the highest court in the land if the framing and intent of such a law conflicts with the constitution.
We are walking on shaky ground if we dump the checks and balances that apply to personal freedom - and the concept of justice - to counter a rising evil
that seems beyond our present laws to contain.
It would be easy to tame a monster - by creating an even bigger and more terrifying monster. Hopefully - caution will prevail !
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