New bill proposes 25 years' jail for gang leaders

CRIMINAL gang leaders can be sent to jail for 25 years. People who join a gang for the first time can face ten years in prison. These penalties are outlined in the Anti-Gang Bill 2021, which will be debated in the Senate on March 9.

The explanatory notes on the legislation outline "the suppression of associations created for unlawful or criminal purposes and for the better protection of the public" as its primary objective.

Firstly, people who either are members of criminal gangs or choose to join a gang are targeted in clause five of the bill. This clause states that this is an offence which carries a penalty of ten years' imprisonment on first conviction. Should these people be convicted subsequently of this specific offence, they will be sentenced to 20 years in jail.

The legislation also proposes that a gang leader would be liable to imprisonment for 25 years on conviction on indictment.

There is also a penalty for members of law-enforcement agencies or people involved in intelligence-gathering if they breach the Anti-Gang Act, as amended by the bill. They are also liable to imprisonment for 25 years on conviction on indictment.

Anyone who either wounds or shoots at members of law-enforcement agencies or people involved in intelligence-gathering face the risk of 30 years' imprisonment on conviction on indictment. Coercing someone to be either a gang leader or gang member carries a penalty of 25 years' imprisonment on conviction on indictment.

The bill also makes it an offence to harbour gang leaders or members; knowingly finance or advise a gang leader, gang member or gang; and to possess a bullet-proof vest, firearm, ammunition or prohibited weapon which is knowingly used to commit a gang-related activity. The latter offence can lead to a penalty of 15 years' imprisonment.

At a commissioning ceremony for a crime-scene simulation facility at the St James police barracks on Wednesday, National Security Minister Stuart Young called upon the Opposition to support the new Anti-Gang Bill when it comes to the Senate on March 9.

The Anti-Gang Bill 2020 failed to pass in the House of Representatives last November, when the Opposition refused to support it. Both bills require a special majority for passage in the House and the Senate.

On Wednesday, Young said, "I know the tremendous work the police (were) doing in taking the fight to the gangs out there, and rather than provide our police with a necessary tool but a slight advantage in the fight against these gangs and the transnational organised crime that is taking place on different levels, the politicians, in particular the opposition, pulled that rug from under the feet of the police and those civic-minded and right-thinking citizens."

Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith supported Young's calls for the bill to be passed.