Easyriders Australia SMC Ipswich Chapter

Brutal airport murder: Bikies seek peace talks Shocked rival motorcycle gang members are seeking a meeting after a man was bludgeoned to death in front of horrified passengers at Sydney's Domestic Airport yesterday in a major escalation of the city's bikie gang war. Four men have been charged with affray and more charges are expected to follow after the 29-year-old western Sydney man was repeatedly smashed in the head with a metal bollard, used to keep passengers in line during check-in. The killing has raised questions about the level of security at the airport and prompted vows from the New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees to crack down on gangs. Mr Rees is holding emergency meetings with police chiefs this morning and has promised to give officers whatever powers they need. Passengers at Sydney Airport were left clearly traumatised after the attack, which started when a group of men got off a plane and were set upon by by a rival group of bikies about 1:30pm yesterday. The brawl between at least 15 rival bikies is believed to have then moved from the secured area of the terminal to the check-in area near the curbside entrance. Some of the men beat each other with metal bollards. A Lakemba man was knocked to the ground and repeatedly smashed in the head. A nurse tried to resuscitate the 29-year-old but he was pronounced dead a short time later after being taken to hospital. Witnesses say security staff were slow to act. Police arrested four men shortly after the attack but it is believed many others involved escaped, possibly in taxis. It is also believed the attack was captured on security cameras. The four men, aged between 21 and 25, have been refused bail to face a Sydney court today. Security expert Neil Fergus, the director of intelligence at the Sydney Olympics and the co-author of a damning government-commissioned report into airport security, says the incident has raised many questions about procedures in place at Sydney Airport. "There's a great deal of time and money invested into security at Sydney Airport and it's dramatically improved," he said. "Questions in relation to this one stem largely from the fact that the policing model that's been put in place there has been designed to deal with acts of criminality. "So there are some inquiries the appropriate authorities will undoubtedly want to make to try to determine how long it took from the start of the incident to when a police response was able to attend." Gang violence escalating There have been various reports about which bikie gangs were involved in yesterday's incident. Some indicate the man who died was a member of the Hells Angels but a senior motorcycle gang source has told ABC Radio's AM program this is not the case. Other bikie gangs suspected to be involved include the Comancheros, the Bandidos and Notorious, an emerging force on the bikie scene. Police are also investigating a gun battle in the western Sydney suburb of Auburn early yesterday morning in which two teenagers were injured. It is believed the battle was between members of the Bandidos and Notorious. Officers also believe Notorious members sprayed two western Sydney houses with bullets on Wednesday night. The seven people inside the homes at the time were lucky to escape injury. There was yet another drive-by shooting in western Sydney last night, when a house in Bossley Park was shot at while a man and woman were inside. They also escaped injury. There have been many other shootings across the area in recent weeks, as well as the bombing of a Hells Angels clubhouse in February. Senior motorcycle gang sources have told the ABC Radio's AM program they are shocked by the violence and are seeking a meeting between rival clubs as a way to let cooler heads prevail. Emergency meetings Emergency meetings are also being held in Sydney this morning between NSW Premier Nathan Rees and police chiefs, as pressure mounts for the state to consider introducing tough new anti-bikie laws. Mr Rees says he will give police whatever powers they need to crack down on bikie gangs. "If the Commissioner has a request for more penalties or more powers, then he will get them," he said. South Australia introduced what have been described as the toughest anti-bikie laws in the world last year, after a series of shootings, murders, home invasions and drug deals, but the verdict is out on whether the crackdown has worked. Introduced last September, the Serious and Organised Crime Control Act was aimed firmly at South Australia's eight bikie gangs and their 250 members. Under the powers, the state's Attorney-General can declare a bikie gang an outlaw organisation. Magistrates can also issue control orders stopping members associating, while police can ban gang members from attending public events or places on public safety grounds. SA Premier Mike Rann says his state faced an enormous threat from organised criminal gangs and while the law is in its infancy, he is convinced it will work. "[We're] treating bikie gangs as you would treat terrorists," he said. "These are basically terrorists within." 'Reign of terror' NSW Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell is demanding SA's laws be considered. "We've got a reign of terror. We've got drive-by shootings, bashings and murders, including this episode yesterday at Sydney Airport," he said. "We need to resolve not simply to lock up these bikie gang criminals but to break them up completely. "That's why Mr Rees should use this week's sitting of the NSW Parliament to introduce South Australian-style tough anti-bikie legislation that seeks to dismantle criminal bikie gangs by declaring illegal the membership or association within individual clubs that have been outlawed." The Premier has promised to discuss introducing SA-style laws at today's meetings but his Police Minister, Tony Kelly, says the police powers have been hard to enforce. "The problem with their legislation is that they've still got to spend 28 days getting the public's opinion as to whether its the right thing to do or not and then it's challengeable at court and it's still going through that process," he said. SA Crime Prevention Council chair Andrew Patterson is not convinced the laws will make a difference. "The likely result of that kind of legislation is that the people who are subject to it will find a way around it," he said. "One of the obvious outcomes is likely to be that the bikie organisations will simply operate in different ways." Mr Rann wants a national approach, which he will be raising at the next meeting of Australia's federal, state and territory leaders. But it takes a lot to intimidate a bikie. Six-hundred of them united for a protest ride a week ago in South Australia and opponents of the law have launched their own political party, FREE Australia. Paul Kuhn, a spokesman for the party, says the bashing death must be met with the full force of the law but he is urging NSW to avoid going the way of SA. "Victoria's come out and said, 'This is not the way to deal with this type of crime or criminal organisation or anything else,'" he said. "Deal with the crime, deal with the individual and deal with it in that way." The first test case of the legislation will be before South Australia's courts soon.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/23/2523230.htm?section=australia