OFF THE WIRE
TATTOOED Queenslanders would have to register their ink with the
State Government under a radical proposal from a Gold Coast MP to crack
down on bikie gang money-laundering operations.
However, a leading civil libertarian has already raised concerns about the plan, saying it would unfairly label people as criminals.
Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens said bikie gangs were using tattoo parlours as a front to launder their ill-gotten gains, and a form of tattoo register would stop them using fake names and inflated tattoo prices to do this.
Mr Stevens said fake names were used at bikie-affiliated parlours, with cash payments of thousands of dollars for bogus tattoo work.
"Under the Health Act there should be a register of people getting tattoos so that we can identify those people getting tattoos rather than have John Smith, Bill Brown and all the other fake names of people who are paying $5000 or $10,000 for tattoos. This is a way for these bikie clubs to clean their money," he said.
"Considering the number of bikies and tattoo parlours I've seen in my area, considering the shootings in my area, I think it's a very worthwhile exercise to look into tattoo parlours and health activities associated with them."
Mr Stevens said the proposal could work with people required to give their name and identification to parlours when getting a tattoo with that information passed on to the Government register.
Similar restrictions are used for the sale of cold and flu medication containing phenylephrine, which is targeted by criminals because it is an ingredient in making speed.
Bond University criminologist Wayne Petherick said it would be a short-term blow for bikies, but they would quickly find a way around it.
"There might be an immediate reduction or stop them entirely," he said.
"But then it might not be a tattoo parlours, it might be a garage. They would find another business to use."
He also said it was treading a thin line in terms of civil liberties.
Queensland Council for Civil Liberties spokesman Terry O'Gorman said it was a naive and extreme approach.
"To require everyone who gets a tat to be registered is to require a huge number of the population who want it as a fashion statement to go on what would effectively be a criminal register," he said.
He said there was already a Federal Government body, Australian Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre, or AUSTRAC, which used high-tech means to investigate alleged money laundering, while if police had legitimate information to suggest a tattoo parlour was being used for laundering they would easily be able to get a phone tap and listening devices in place.
"There's no evidence that tattoo parlours are being used to launder money," he said.
Tattoo festival Surf 'n' Ink event manager Lindsay Hall (pictured) said the idea was ridiculous.
"The Government doesn't need to know if I have a tattoo," she said.
"If the reason is to help eliminate money laundering by bikie, clubs it won't help anything at all."
Pictured: Tattoo festival Surf 'n' Ink event manager Lindsay Hall with tattooist Kris Olsen. Pic by Richard Gosling.
However, a leading civil libertarian has already raised concerns about the plan, saying it would unfairly label people as criminals.
Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens said bikie gangs were using tattoo parlours as a front to launder their ill-gotten gains, and a form of tattoo register would stop them using fake names and inflated tattoo prices to do this.
Mr Stevens said fake names were used at bikie-affiliated parlours, with cash payments of thousands of dollars for bogus tattoo work.
"Under the Health Act there should be a register of people getting tattoos so that we can identify those people getting tattoos rather than have John Smith, Bill Brown and all the other fake names of people who are paying $5000 or $10,000 for tattoos. This is a way for these bikie clubs to clean their money," he said.
"Considering the number of bikies and tattoo parlours I've seen in my area, considering the shootings in my area, I think it's a very worthwhile exercise to look into tattoo parlours and health activities associated with them."
Mr Stevens said the proposal could work with people required to give their name and identification to parlours when getting a tattoo with that information passed on to the Government register.
Similar restrictions are used for the sale of cold and flu medication containing phenylephrine, which is targeted by criminals because it is an ingredient in making speed.
Bond University criminologist Wayne Petherick said it would be a short-term blow for bikies, but they would quickly find a way around it.
"There might be an immediate reduction or stop them entirely," he said.
"But then it might not be a tattoo parlours, it might be a garage. They would find another business to use."
He also said it was treading a thin line in terms of civil liberties.
Queensland Council for Civil Liberties spokesman Terry O'Gorman said it was a naive and extreme approach.
"To require everyone who gets a tat to be registered is to require a huge number of the population who want it as a fashion statement to go on what would effectively be a criminal register," he said.
He said there was already a Federal Government body, Australian Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre, or AUSTRAC, which used high-tech means to investigate alleged money laundering, while if police had legitimate information to suggest a tattoo parlour was being used for laundering they would easily be able to get a phone tap and listening devices in place.
"There's no evidence that tattoo parlours are being used to launder money," he said.
Tattoo festival Surf 'n' Ink event manager Lindsay Hall (pictured) said the idea was ridiculous.
"The Government doesn't need to know if I have a tattoo," she said.
"If the reason is to help eliminate money laundering by bikie, clubs it won't help anything at all."
Pictured: Tattoo festival Surf 'n' Ink event manager Lindsay Hall with tattooist Kris Olsen. Pic by Richard Gosling.
