Police will be handed tougher powers to stop criminals associating under a revised Victorian scheme to combat bikies and organised crime following the CFMEU scandal.
The Criminal Organisations Control Amendment Bill was introduced to Victorian parliament on Wednesday by the state Labor government.
The legislation was fast-tracked after allegations emerged in July of bikies infiltrating the CFMEU.
Under the reforms, Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said members of organised crime groups would be banned from entering Victorian government worksites.
It would also lower the threshold for police to issue unlawful association orders as part of a new scheme.
The orders can be used by police to keep convicted criminals apart, with breaches attracting up to three years in prison.
“This is all about responding to organised crime and thuggish behaviour that has no place in our state,” Ms Symes told reporters at parliament on Wednesday.
“It is about ensuring that police have the powers they need to disrupt, to prevent and discourage organised crime.”
There were some exceptions to the orders but the scheme had been drawn up to be very narrow, Ms Symes said.
Oversight will be provided by the Independent Broad-Based Anti-corruption Commission, which will report to the attorney-general.
Ms Symes said the changes were in direct response to police feedback that the current scheme was not working.
“(They) haven’t been able to use the laws to the best of their ability,” she said.
Opposition Leader John Pesutto said it was too little, too late and was not convinced the legislation would remove bikie gangs and organised criminal elements from taxpayer-funded worksites.
“We’ll look at the detail,” he said.
The bill will also ban the insignia of outlaw motorcycle gangs and other criminal groups, including wearing it on clothing or jewellery and displaying it on signs, flags or vehicles.
A new serious crime prevention order scheme will allow the police boss to apply to a court to impose broad conditions on those with criminal histories or their likely accomplices.
It has been targeted at organised crime leaders and could prohibit people from leaving Victoria, possessing firearms or certain amounts of cash.
Source: AAP
