QLD: Coalition to crack down on gang members

AAP General News (Australia)
12-06-1999
QLD: Coalition to crack down on gang members

The Queensland opposition will today launch a six-point strategy to tackle organised
crime in the state.

Opposition leader ROB BORBIDGE promises a future Queensland Coalition government will
introduce tough new anti-gang laws with three-year jail terms on crime syndicate members.

Mr BORBIDGE says guilt-by-association laws will be a central plank in the major six-point
strategy to tackle organised crime.

The laws are to be modelled on similar legislation in New Zealand which police say
has resulted in a three per cent drop in crime in the past 12-months.

But the Opposition's proposal has angered Australian Civil Liberties President TERRY O'GORMAN.

He says the figures from New Zealand are very much open to question and laws should
be based on proof - not speculation.

The Opposition's proposal makes it an offence for any person to participate in a criminal
gang knowing it is a criminal gang involved in activity which amounts to a jailable offence.

AAP RTV ch/as/arb/msk

KEYWORD: GANGS (BRISBANE)

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