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NINTH ASSEMBLY 20 FEBRUARY 2019 www.hansard.act.gov.au Wednesday, 20 February 2019 Crimes (Anti-Consorting) Amendment Bill 2019 ..................................................... 429 Taxis—regulation ...................................................................................................... 436 Drugs of Dependence (Personal Cannabis Use) Amendment Bill 2018 ................... 453 Questions without notice: Building—reforms .......................................................................................... 466 Municipal services—nature strips .................................................................. 468 Building—quality ........................................................................................... 468 Building—quality ........................................................................................... 470 National Multicultural Festival—feedback .................................................... 472 Children and young people—care and protection .......................................... 475 Children and young people—care and protection .......................................... 476 Children and young people—care and protection .......................................... 477 ACT Fire & Rescue—equipment ................................................................... 479 Children and young people—care and protection .......................................... 480 Government—assistance for veterans and seniors ......................................... 482 Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders—out of home care ........................... 483 Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders—out of home care ........................... 485 Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders—out of home care ........................... 487 ACT Youth Week—youth empowerment ...................................................... 489 Paper .......................................................................................................................... 491 Personal explanation .................................................................................................. 491 Drugs of Dependence (Personal Cannabis Use) Amendment Bill 2018 ................... 493 Health, Ageing and Community Services—Standing Committee ............................. 499 Schools—safety ......................................................................................................... 503 Domestic Animals (Dangerous Dogs) Amendment Bill 2018 .................................. 522 Gungahlin community facilities ................................................................................. 533 Adjournment: Waitangi Day .................................................................................................. 547 Personal explanation ....................................................................................... 547 Street libraries ................................................................................................. 548 Legislative Assembly for the ACT Wednesday, 20 February 2019 The Assembly met at 10 am. (Quorum formed.) MADAM SPEAKER (Ms J Burch) took the chair at 10 am, made a formal recognition that the Assembly was meeting on the lands of the traditional custodians, and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory. Crimes (Anti-Consorting) Amendment Bill 2019 Mr Hanson, pursuant to notice, presented the bill and its explanatory statement. Title read by Clerk. MR HANSON (Murrumbidgee) (10.03): I move: That this bill be agreed to in principle. We are elected to this place to serve the community. There is no higher responsibility of that service than to keep our community safe. And this government is failing to do that. This is not a matter of politics or ideology. It is a matter of pure, hard facts. Fact: in 2009, following a bikie murder at Sydney airport, the then Labor Premier of New South Wales said that he would introduce tough new anti-bikie laws and drive the bikies out of New South Wales. Fact: at that time the AFP, the Australian Crime Commission, I and others warned that if the ACT failed to introduce commensurate laws then we would be a safe haven for bikies. Fact: since New South Wales introduced anti-consorting laws, bikies have seen the ACT as a soft place to operate and we have seen at least a fourfold increase in ACT bikie gangs. We have also seen New South Wales bikies come to the ACT en masse in visits to operate in ways that they cannot in New South Wales. Fact: because of the increase from the one gang in 2009 to at least four now, we have seen an inter-gang war erupt in our suburbs as bikies fight over turf. Fact: the frequency and severity of bikie violence has massively increased during this war. There was one recorded bikie assault in 2014, but last year there were 20. As for machine guns, fire-bombings and night-time raids, these were unheard of 10 years ago. Fact: successive chief police officers have called for anti-consorting laws and have cited our lack of laws as the reason that we have an increase in bikie gang activity. Fact: unless we have anti-consorting laws consistent with those in New South Wales the bikie war will continue to rage in our suburbs. Fact: if that war continues, sooner or later somebody will be killed or maimed. Those are the facts. But the stories behind those facts present an even more compelling story. It started when New South Wales introduced their laws but the ACT did not. Everybody could see the impending problem. 429 20 February 2019 Legislative Assembly for the ACT Outlaw bikie gangs heading to Canberra because of the ACT’s soft laws on consorting. That was the headline from the Daily Telegraph. Bikies drawn to Canberra due to lack of anti-gang laws. That is from the ABC. Canberra becoming a Bikie Mecca. The Telegraph again. What is more harrowing is reading the reports from the violence that ensued. On 10 March 2017: Front lawn set alight at house next door to childcare centre. On 6 July: Three cars torched, shots fired in Kambah. On 11 July: Cars, house shot at with high-powered rifle in Waramanga. On 18 July: Bullets fired into home next to childcare centre. In September: Man shot twice in the leg in Kambah. The front page of the Canberra Times in October 2017 stated the depths our community had sunk to. “War zone” was the headline. The subheading was “Suburban violence”. The article stated: Kalgoorlie Crescent residents were left terrified after a man was shot in the groin and shoulder and two vehicles were torched. Two young children were home at the time. There was a heartbreaking report of a six-year-old girl trying to use a garden hose to put out the cars set on fire on their property while the adult victim lay bleeding from gunshot wounds. That was caused by this failure to act. And there is no doubt this failure is the cause. On 4 February 2019 the Canberra Times headline read: Police confirm bikie link to arson attack and gun shots in Kambah. 430 Legislative Assembly for the ACT 20 February 2019 And let me quote from the article: In a troubling development for the Canberra community, police have confirmed that the shooting and arson attack on a suburban home in Kambah early on Monday was a targeted attack and bikie gang-related. Detective Superintendent Scott Moller confirmed that “multiple adults and some children” were at home in the two-storey home on Harrington Circuit in Kambah when three bullets were fired into the property about 1.30 am on Monday. The bullets struck the garage door of the house. Superintendent Moller also confirmed accelerant was poured on three vehicles outside the home and all three set on fire in the attack. Worse still is the fact that the government has been repeatedly warned of these risks. They knew it was happening and did nothing. The warnings did not come just from the Canberra Liberals. ACT Policing, the New South Wales police and others have expressed their concerns at the refusal to act. The Daily Telegraph reported: New South Wales Police sources have revealed their exasperation at how the ACT situation is hampering their battle against the bikie menace. “A lot of clubhouses have been closed down and bikies are no longer roaming in packs in New South Wales, but it’s frustrating that they can still operate freely in Canberra,” a senior New South Wales officer said. The Australian Federal Police Association president, Angela Smith, stated: I’ve been calling for these laws since I became president just over 18 months ago and I just don’t understand the reticence of the ACT government. It doesn’t make any sense. It is the last part of the suite of resources we need to battle outlaw motorcycle gangs. I’ve been going on like a broken record. We’re an island in New South Wales. We’ve become a safe place to operate. The Sydney Morning Herald summed it up: The ACT needs anti-consorting laws now before someone dies. For the record, I did send my warnings. And let me quote from a press report of 25 March 2009, a decade ago: The ACT would risk becoming an oasis for bikie gang members if we failed to follow New South Wales’s lead on legislation, Shadow Minister for Police Jeremy Hanson said today. “Recent bikie gang violence and murders in the ACT and New South Wales has highlighted the need for the ACT to stay in step with any changes to New South Wales anti-bikie gang laws in order to prevent Canberra becoming an oasis for bikies. 431 20 February 2019 Legislative Assembly for the ACT “As

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