Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the great state of Queensland there really is palpable concern about the lockout laws that are the sum total of the Queensland government's response to alcohol-fuelled violence—nothing for drug-fuelled violence and nothing for sober violence, just closing a club an hour earlier and 'I am sure everything will be okay'. It is fine to quote some evidence that levels of assaults have fallen, but they fell everywhere in these studies, even where lockout laws did not change. Add to that now what appears to be a rolling out of the welcome mat to illegal and criminal bikie gangs—the latest, Satudarah from the Netherlands and Mongrel Mob from New Zealand, who are going to test this new Labor Premier, who is going soft on organised crime by calling for reviews of the VLAD laws only to allege that it allowed paedophilia to flourish. What an appalling allegation from state Labor.

We must crack down on this bikie violence. We will not tolerate them coming back in the state of Queensland and continuing with their extortion, their assault and their distribution of ice. That is not acceptable. If the state government goes soft on this, we will see it sooner rather than later. They must not erode in any way, shape or form the efforts of Taskforce Maxima, which was set up by Campbell Newman. Those opposite may wish to dance on his grave politically but in reality, pink jumpsuits aside, Campbell Newman drove them out of the state of Queensland and they belong nowhere in this great nation of Australia. Do not go easy on criminal bikie gangs. They may well sell the occasional Legacy badge or make a donation to CanTeen, but they do not belong in the great state of Queensland nor the nation of Australia.