Busting in Doors !

The difference between a " Pub " and a " Club " is defined in New South Wales law.  A pub is defined as a " public house " while " membership " of a Club allows that person similar privileges as apply in their own home.  Back in the days when the pubs closed on Sundays and alcohol ceased serving at six pm during the rest of the week, members were entitled to drink in their club without any of these restrictions.

Until recently, illegal bikie groups used that law to protect what they termed their " club houses ".  These were virtual crime dens scattered about the suburbs and they were furnished with every comfort and dispensed cheap grog.  The cops needed a search warrant to enter and bringing them under control became a tactical battle often fought out in the courts.

Now an old law that has languished on the law books since the heady days of the second world war has been resurrected.  The " Restricted Premises Act " was passed into law in 1943 at the urgings of the military commanders.  They were convinced that enemy spies were learning the nation's secrets by frequenting the brothels and sly grog shops of which Sydney was rife.

That was a different age.  Not only did tight civil standards apply in public morals but the military believed that it had a duty to protect serving members of the armed forces from these " dens of debauchery ".  The parliament agreed and the legislation passed on both moral grounds and the need for national security.

Now it has been rediscovered, waiting patiently in the law books and the policer have started using it to smash  bikie crime.   The cops now enthusiastically  append a court order quoting this act to the exterior wall of a bikie club before smashing down the doors and sending in a raiding party.

These raids are brutal.  The legislation suggests that the authorities can confiscate anything to do with illegal liquor sales and the police interpret that to include glasses, fridges, bar furnishings and anything that can be even remotely connected to a working bar, including drink coasters and beer nuts.

The police are confident that the loss of these secure club houses will destroy the bikie culture. Many have been better furnished than RSL clubs and have provided one of the main attractions for being a club member.  The police go in with sledge hammers and the legal authority to destroy the safe domain where much bikie crime is planned.  This closing down of club houses will deal a powerful blow to the camaraderie that has made these crime groups so powerful.

Just such a raid was carried out on the famous Nomads club house in inner Newcastle.  This colourful building has for ages stood like a one finger salute proclaiming the invincibility of that local chapter over the law - and now it is closed down.

So - an old law enacted for a specific purpose during the war and never rescinded has found a new use.  Most will applaud its use to constrict bikie crime but the wise may wonder just what other targets may be in police sights.  That is the problem when a law passed for a specific purpose - has a wide interpretation !