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NEWS
Unions weigh in to fight anti-bikie laws
New report claims looming High Court challenge to Campbell Newman's anti-bikie laws in Queensland have been bolstered by union fundsAccording to a recent report in Queensland’s Courier-Mail newspaper, a challenge to Queensland Premier Campbell Newman’s anti-bikie laws to be mounted by the United Motorcycle Council (UMC) will be partially supported by union money.
The report states that the Maritime Union of Australia and a group associated with the Electrical Trades Union have injected $5000 and $10,000 respectively into a UMC war chest set aside the fight the legislation.
The paper states the UMC’s fighting fund is growing at a rate of around $100,000 a month.
Mick Carr, the MUA’s state secretary, reportedly told the paper the money was provided to fight laws that don’t exclusively target bike gang members.
On learning of the donations, Newman voiced his displeasure via Twitter.
“I think many hard-working union members would be unhappy about their money being used to bankroll criminals,” he wrote.
Speaking with the Courier-Mail, Acting Attorney-General David Crisafulli also condemned the move.
“While the unions support criminal gangs, we’ll continue to stand up for innocent Queenslanders who have had enough of these gangs and the huge list of crimes they commit,” he said.
While the anti-bikie legislation restricts members from gathering in public, it also bans people with links to motorcycle gangs from working in specified industries.
Also speaking with the paper, Queensland Opposition Leader Annastascia Palaszczuk said any Australian had a democratic right to challenge legislation.
“We live in a democracy, we live in a place where if you don’t like a particular law you have the right to challenge it,” she said.
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