Mike Rann, bikies, and a little bashing heads the way of the government

(Above: no, not a game of pick which one's the bikie, just a drink for a job well done as Mike Rann slumps down with Bob Ellis, not knowing who might get up with fleas).

As Sydney - centre of the known universe - wakes up to another dust storm, this time the joke's worn thin, and the print media has shown a 'so far over it' attitude that hints at a new maturity when confronted by signs and portents of the apocalypse.

Perhaps it was because the dust this time lacked a dark orange red aspect reminiscent of a day in hell that the coverage in the Daily Terror lacked any stridency. No eerie red pictures as we get closer to the outer rings of hell.

Perhaps it was also because football fever (and hang overs) still grip the land. Why I didn't even feel a flicker of fear when tuning into the SMH only to get this on the screen:

Hey, when the apocalypse strikes, or they start charging for digital content, I'll be getting that message all the time.

Anyhoo, it seemed right to look further afield to assess the state of loon pond, and where better to look than South Australia.

If you're a careful student of loonery, you might recall that The Punch - Australia's most cheap skate conversation - regularly features cheap (which is to say free) scribbles from assorted politicians, or whichever back room flack they can get to ghost write, and way back on the 31st May, the puffed up premier of Mike Rann hit the intertubes promoting his new anti-bikie legislation, under the header Defending the right of bikers to bash, kill, steal, deal.

Rann was indignant that people were indignant about his bright shiny brand new laws:

Civil libertarians around the country have condemned my new anti-crime gang laws aimed at outlaw bikie gangs. Defence lawyers and pseudo-academics have lined up to tell the public that the bikie gangs are a harmless sub-culture comprised of grandparents who simply like a ride on big bikes.

Following the passing of our most recent law, we’ve seen demonstrations by hundreds of bikies from around the country converging on Adelaide in so-called “Freedom Rides”, an insulting reprise of the civil rights movement in the US.

Yep, those bloody pseudo academics again. Why is it when I hear a politician use "pseudo" in an argument that I think he's being a pseudo politician?

Well I guess it's an even more insulting reprise of the civil rights movement that the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia yesterday ruled a key part of the legislation, in relation to control orders, void:

Under the laws, gang members were not given the opportunity to appear in court when orders were sought.

Justice Bleby found it was a "fundamental proposition" of law that accused people should be informed of the case against them and be given "an opportunity to answer that case".

"A court . . . which is required by statute not to observe that fundamental rule of law . . . will inevitably be acting in a manner incompatible with the proper discharge of judicial responsibilities," Justice Bleby stated.

The laws also "severely impaired or undermined" the court's integrity.

You can read the rest of the story here in Adelaide now, the intertube face of The Advertiser, under the header SA Full Court declares Rann's bikie control orders illegal (and you'll also find a link to the full ruling there, which will land in your box as an rtf file).

The state's dunderhead Attorney-General Michael Atkinson - responsible for the way gamers in this country can't get an "R" rating for adult content video games - tried to put the best gloss on what was in fact an embarrassing failure:

"As a government we were always aware of the vulnerability of our legislation, because as a government we are willing to test the constitutional boundaries and are willing to take the fight to the outlaw motorcycle gangs," Mr Atkinson said.

Sure, sure. They just pushed a little too far, and now will re-group and get on with it. Well it's a spin, but why am I reminded of the last few overs of Stuart MacGill in test cricket? Probably because I was told the jocks at The Punch would understand the metaphor.

Of course back in May Rann was jumping up and down like a Mexican bean in a bottle:

We have not taken this action lightly, nor are we recklessly indifferent to civil liberties.

Indeed, we will appoint a retired judicial officer to review the use of powers under the Act.

His or her report will be tabled in Parliament.

We are determined that only hardened criminals and groups set up for the purpose of serious crime will need to fear this legislation.

A report in parliament! How's that for democracy.

Well along with the hardened criminals, I guess we now have to add the learned judges of the Supreme Court.

What a pity Rann and his team didn't get it right the first time, and what a pity that the state opposition did a Turnbull over an email, so that any attempt to attack the puffery of Rann looks like more support for gangster bikies.

If you want a sample of that kind of nonsense, why not inhale a dose of David Penberthy, and his rant Bikies' spin is criminal.

At the time, Penberthy was indignant about bikies disparaging and denigrating honest, hard-working journalists, while lashing out at free speech purists for participating in a non-debate producing crap scenarios where Australia drifted casually towards Nazism.

In his usual way, Penberthy went off half-cocked, like a genuine tabloid ratbag, and missed the point entirely, about rights and entitlements in a democracy. Like Rann. Well it'll be interesting to see how the other states go with their legislative variants, as they rushed into print following the bikie murder at Sydney airport, using the SA model as a basis for action. Like lemmings happy to follow Rann towards the edge of the cliff.

Is it something to do with the quality of the extra hard water they drink in South Australia, since Penberthy is a refugee who sought a new life in 'centre of the universe' Sydney but obviously still shares a mind set with Mike Rann?

Who knows, but I still think Don Dunstan would be revolving in his grave at the preposterous notion that Mike Rann is carrying on his legacy ...

Meantime, you want a method to tackle the bikie issue? Try here.

Yes there are ways, but they require intelligence and diligence, rather than cheap grandstanding and easy rhetoric and incompetent execution. Exeunt Mike Rann ...

(Below: a Mike Rann twitter. Ignore the spelling. We're all fiskally challenged here, but I can't believe there are politicians incapable of tackling bikie drug gangs by drafting legislation that works. The twit came from here).