OFF THE WIRE
Simon Benson
dailytelegraph.com.au
JULIA Gillard will take control of rolling out uniform national anti-bikie laws, ordering the drafting of laws to be an "urgent priority" for a meeting of state and federal justice ministers next week.
Following the failure of the NSW government to list the issue on the agenda of a high-level meeting on gang-related gun crime, the PM has ordered the issue be elevated to the highest priority.
The rush to force the states into an agreement on uniform organised crime laws, to break cross-border gun running and outlaw bikie crime, follows the rising gun crimes in Sydney and the recent seizure of weapons cache imported into the country.
The Daily Telegraph has obtained a series of letters between Ms Gillard and NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell dating back to July last year, in which it is revealed a standoff between the state and federal government was to blame for the delay to national laws.
Mr O'Farrell has been under pressure to tackle the rising gun crime in Sydney. He has blamed a lack of action on the federal government.
However, a letter from Ms Gillard to Mr O'Farrell on January 24 has revealed that Mr O'Farrell consistently refused to take up the offer of putting his plans to combat "organised crime associated with outlaw motorcycle gangs" to the national organised crime response plan.
Mr O'Farrell failed to respond to the letter and claimed he would not be able to address the issue until at least July this year.
The Daily Telegraph has now learned that Ms Gillard has ordered Attorney-General Nicola Roxon to expedite the issue for the meeting of the standing council on justice and law for April 4-5.
"Tackling gun crime and bikie gangs is urgent," Ms Gillard told The Daily Telegraph yesterday.
