From Terrorism to Bikies

Abstract

Ten years ago, the 'war on terror' dominated political debate. Today we find ourselves in another war, namely, the 'war on organised crime'. The Australian Crime Commission has described organised crime as 'a dynamic, everevolving transnational phenomenon of immense size'. Australian governments have therefore seen fit to develop new weapons to respond to this threat. The latest and most controversial of these are 'bikie control order laws', as they are commonly called. To date, such laws have been enacted in South Australia (2008), New South Wales (2009), the Northern Territory (2009) and Queensland (2009). Western Australia is the most recent jurisdiction to jump on the bandwagon, introducing what it describes as the 'toughest organised crime laws in the nation' into the parliament in November 2011.