Hume convoy sets Pru fuming

OFF THE WIRE
Matt Buchanan and Leesha McKenny
BIKIES are ''outlaws'' not ''outlawed'' but Pru Goward is outraged a convoy of them made an incursion into her electorate last month. The state member for Goulburn has put the Police Minister, Michael Daley, on notice with questions after the Rebels Motorcycle Club barrelled down the Hume Highway - and past a congregation of police - on their way to Melbourne. Just how many arrests were made, she demanded to know, before dropping Daley a hint: ''Given that the Rebel Motorbike Club [sic] is supposedly 'outlawed' and no arrests were made, why not?'' But it seems the bikies have a better grasp of their legal status than the Liberal MP. That is, simply wearing the tag ''outlaw'' doesn't render them illegal. If police could just arrest any confrontationally clad men on bikes, the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, would have been locked up months ago. Daley is yet to respond to Goward, but elsewhere another bikie gang, the Finks, will learn whether they can be ''declared'' a criminal organisation under organised crime legislation in South Australia, in the High Court on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Hells Angels are challenging the application of similar legislation in NSW which could mean they become the first outlawed ''outlaws'' in the state.