OFF THE WIRE
The NSW opposition has called for the reintroduction of tough anti-bikie laws to combat Sydney's 'gang warfare' shootings.
As premier of the former Labor government, Mr Rees handed the Supreme Court powers to outlaw bikie gxxgs and prevent members from contacting each other.
This was in response to the March 2009 fatal bashing of bikie associate Anthony Zervas at Sydney Airport.
The Crimes (Criminal Organisations Control) Act was struck out in June 2011 after Sydney Hells Angel Derek Wainoh challenged the law in the High Court.
But a recent spate of shootings in Sydney - including four since Monday - means the state government must reintroduce the law, Mr Rees said.
'Until they get on top of this gang crime these shootings will continue and ... we're getting closer and closer to an innocent bystander being injured or worse,' he told Fairfax Radio Network.
Mr Rees said there had been more than 60 shootings in Sydney during the last 12 months, describing the problem as 'gang warfare'.
'They are organised crime, they deal in amphetamines and the distribution of amphetamines ... and they are protecting a turf and expanding a turf and that's what this is all about,' he said.
In the latest shooting, a bullet was fired into home in Weigand Avenue, Bankstown at 12.30am (AEDT) on Thursday.
A woman and her four children, aged between two months and 10, were inside the property.
Macquarie Radio Network reported the bullet passed through the home just centimetres from the two-month-old, who was asleep in a cot, and left a golf ball-sized hole in the window.
Around 2am (AEDT) on Wednesday the occupants of two cars were involved in a gun battle in Greenfield Park.
Two homes in Auburn and Arncliffe were peppered with bullets on Monday night.
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National-Regional/2012/01/12/Bring_back_anti-gang_laws_-_Rees_706716.html
