Bikies and civil rights: Legal activism, police states and liberties in Australia

The treatment of Australia's motorcycle clubs reveals the extent the state has intruded into general liberties, using law and order as the cudgel of policy. Poorly drafted laws have meant that the bikies, while being singled out as criminal figures, have become talismanic targets of a more dangerous tendency in the expansive state. Even more troubling, such measures have been given approval by the country's highest tribunal, thereby justifying shoddy executive discretion and judicial compliance. Such rulings have further weakened public interest litigation whilst deferring authority to the executive. This paper examines these impacts in greater detail.