LABOR has been unable to match its rhetoric on the war against bikies with action.
It announced a tough stance years ago in response to community disquiet over street violence and pledged to take down thugs and hooligans turning Adelaide's streets into shooting galleries.
For all intents and purposes, the war has failed. The strategy and weaponry employed by the State Government have been insufficient to stop violent gangs who appear to be laws unto themselves.
The cornerstone of the crusade was to be the controversial landmark anti-association laws.
Key elements of the legislation have been found invalid by the High Court and the State Government is now scrambling to find a new legal mechanism with which to tackle the problem.
That major piece of legal artillery was to be backed with strong and uncompromising policing which would flush the bikies from their lairs and put them behind bars.
The political war on bikies had two motivations. One was well-intended and justified - to rid the state of a horrible cycle of fear and violence and prevent incidents like that seen in North Adelaide on Sunday.
The other was an optimistic and cynical bid to build political capital by over-selling promises the Government must have known would be difficult to implement.
There was also an undeniable bungling of the first phase of the anti-association laws where former attorney-general Michael Atkinson attempted to step well beyond appropriate power.
The laws were so broadly drawn that they could have allowed the declaration of almost any loose group of people as an outlaw gang and with minimal requirement to produce evidence.
Not only was this unacceptable to many people's sense of liberty, it also guaranteed failure in the courts before the case was even brought.
However, the most unfortunate outcome is that it is now possible to argue the war has done little but galvanise a formerly disparate insurgent force against its aggressor.
Gang insiders have previously told The Advertiser there is a newfound camaraderie between former foes who now view the Government and police as a shared enemy.
While there are still significant rivalries, some gangs are joining together like merging corporations to make use of supply chains and human resources.
No resolution will be found on the legal question at least until Parliament resumes in February and Attorney-General John Rau walks in with a new legislative tome.
Even then, the political and bureaucratic wheels turn so slowly that there is unlikely to be any sort of useful outcome until at least the middle of next year and it is highly disputed as to if it will survive the High Court.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/editorial-time-to-get-policy-right-on-bikie-gangs/story-e6freabl-1226226157895
Not only was this unacceptable to many people's sense of liberty, it also guaranteed failure in the courts before the case was even brought.
However, the most unfortunate outcome is that it is now possible to argue the war has done little but galvanise a formerly disparate insurgent force against its aggressor.
Gang insiders have previously told The Advertiser there is a newfound camaraderie between former foes who now view the Government and police as a shared enemy.
While there are still significant rivalries, some gangs are joining together like merging corporations to make use of supply chains and human resources.
No resolution will be found on the legal question at least until Parliament resumes in February and Attorney-General John Rau walks in with a new legislative tome.
Even then, the political and bureaucratic wheels turn so slowly that there is unlikely to be any sort of useful outcome until at least the middle of next year and it is highly disputed as to if it will survive the High Court.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/editorial-time-to-get-policy-right-on-bikie-gangs/story-e6freabl-1226226157895
