In time for Halloween, “VLAD 2, The Return of VLAD” is as terrifying as the original

Deja vu gripped the Brisbane office of The Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance this morning as it was revealed the West Australian parliament is attempting to pass a bill eerily similar to former Queensland Premier Campbell Newman’s infamous VLAD laws. The West Australian government’s proposed Criminal Law (Unlawful Consorting and Prohibited Insignia) Bill 2021 is another in a long line of doomed-to-fail anti-consorting laws introduced around the country over the past decade.

“Campbell Newman swept to victory in 2011 with an impressive majority. Then he introduced some of the most retrograde anti-consorting laws the country had ever seen.” said Gabe Buckley, Chief Operating Officer of the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance. “In October 2013, as the President of the Liberal Democrats, kicked off a string of protests, taking thousands of motorcyclists to parliament house to make our point. In 2015 Campbell Newman became the first sitting Queensland premier to lose his seat in over 100 years.”

Six years on from being deposed as premier, Campbell Newman - having eschewed his former hardline stance - is set to stand for public office once again. This time as the lead senate candidate in Queensland for former foes, the Liberal Democrats.

“These things seem to raise their heads every couple of years.” Mr Buckley continued. “It’s almost a cliche now for any premier wanting to appear ‘Tough on Crime’ to trot out a set of anti bikie laws that only serve to give police licence to harass ordinary motorcyclists. The reality of Campbell Newman’s VLAD laws, the NSW Consorting laws and the laws introduced in Victoria and South Australia in 2015, is that they simply do not work. Harassment and intimidation on a massive scale of ordinary motorcyclists and their families netted few arrests and even fewer prosecutions.”

The Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance believes that encroachments on civil liberties such as freedom of association have a chilling effect on society. Such laws restrict the ability of citizens to move freely and conduct their lawful business, impacting local economies and leaving us poorer in more ways than one.