OFF THE WIRE
IT would be a "dead set joke" if tattooed Queenslanders had to register their
ink with the State Government, says a Mackay tattoo artist.
The Gold
Coast's Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens has suggested the State Government have a
register of people getting tattoos to crack down on bikie gang money laundering
operations.
He said a register would stop bikie gangs using fake names to
launder money though tattoo parlours they operated.
However, North
Mackay's Maiden Ink Tattoos owner and manager Kelly Aplin said a register would
be an invasion of privacy, and not every tattoo studio was bikie
related.
Instead, she said authorities should concentrate on backyard
tattooists who were spreading infections.
"They're spreading Hepatitis C,
buying machines on eBay and they don't know how to clean or sterilise them," she
said.
Tattoo studio operators were at risk of catching a disease from an
infected client, she said.
There were a lot of backyard artists in
Mackay, Ms Aplin said, and she called for authorities to start cracking down on
the issue.
As the art of tattooing becomes more widespread, more men and
women are signing up to be inked on their arms, rib cages, chests and
hands.
Ms Aplin said it was also becoming more popular for people to
start a collection of art on their bodies, and to have work from different
artists.
Larger work is also becoming more popular. Ms Aplin said
Japanese-themed work was proving to be a hit, including dragons, warriors and
geisha girls. Zombie girls with roses are also popular large pieces of
art.
"It's more the big stuff and we still get the odd small ones," she
said.
http://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/mp-calls-for-queensland-tattoo-register/1858950/
