STOP BIKIE CANCER

THE HERALD SUN
LETTERS

"Stop   ...   the   bikie  cancer" demands Nick Guthrie of Ivanhoe (HS
Letters Nov 2).  He urges action before  "it all becomes too late". He
warns the situation here is kin to the drug violence in Mexico.

Doesn't say much for our police or our current laws.

Let's put it in perspective. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
tells  us  that  over  a million Australians  hold a licence to ride a
motorcycle  or  scooter.  Police  have  estimated  that there are 7000
members of what they call "outlaw motorcycle gangs" in this country.

Do  the  math. The so-called outlaws are less than half of one percent
of the Australian motorcycle & scooter community and then not all club
members are criminals.

Enforce  the  current  laws.  Lock  the crims up whether they are on a
bike  or  in  a  car.  But  don't introduce police-state laws based on
prejudice  and  hysteria, not  fact.

It's  not  just  in Queensland that riders  and civil liberties groups
are  angry  about anti-bike laws. Australia  is  a  free  country.  We
want it to stay that way for all Australians.

Damien Codognotto
Independent Riders' Group
Melbourne