Meet VLAD. He’s A Dick.

Photo via Courier Mail

Vlad isn’t a name that comes with happy connotations. The sound of it alone invokes an image of some shady Eastern European doctor whose so called ‘medical certificate’ has more numbers on it than letters. Not the sort of character that screams trustworthiness.  There is a precedent as well, for Vlad’s poor reputation. From 1456 to 1462, Vlad III Dracula (aka Vlad the Impaler) ruled Wallachia in Eastern Europe like one big Hostel movie, minus the power drill obviously. History says he forced mothers to eat their own roasted children and impaled his enemies by the thousands. Not cool bro. But I want to talk about another type of Vlad and although cannibalism doesn’t feature too heavily, the archaic nature of it all is simply dumbfounding.

I’m talking about VLAD, otherwise known as the Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment Act. Some also refer to VLAD as the anti-bikie laws and if you haven’t heard of these by now than you may need to drop the bong and pick up a newspaper.  These laws were passed last year after a very public bikie brawl on the Gold Coast, and have been touted as the toughest in Australia. Difficult to argue against that with VLAD prohibiting groups of three or more motorbike riders on our roads, banning clothes that identify certain clubs, introducing mandatory sentences of 10-15 years and constructing a brand new bikies-only ‘correctional centre’ where inmates are locked in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day.

One of the more controversial aspects of VLAD are the anti-association laws which prohibit gang members and their associates from meeting in groups of three or more.  Last year three Mongols got done meeting at the Palazzo Versace on the Gold Coast, and just last month, five alleged associates and members of the Rebels were arrested after meeting at the Yandina Hotel. After being arrested, alleged associates like their bikie counterparts are locked in solitary confinement for the course of their trial (unless bail is granted) and are refused communication with anyone other than their lawyers.  It’s rough treatment for assumingly rough people, but the mood in Queensland is slowly shifting. What started out as quite popular legislation has now begun to slide in the polls.

In the face of unrelenting media scrutiny and a continued drop in the public’s approval of VLAD, Premier Newman announced that he doesn’t even “particularly like” the laws and will review them in three years. As a journalist I can see that is a smart PR move. The Premier’s slight admission appeals to the undecided voters who don’t like criminal bikie gangs, but also don’t really like the severity of the government’s response. The LNP has thus constructed an argument that says we must destroy certain civil liberties in order to save our security, if only for a while. The argument is persuasive, especially when the nightly news screams images of brutish tattooed men laying down the pain at a Gold Coast tapas bar. But the news also showed the tears of Tracey Carew: mother of two and wife of Joshua Carew, one of the ‘Yandina Five’ arrested under anti-association laws. When I entered Brisbane’s Supreme Court to watch Mr Carew’s bail hearing, I didn’t see the scary bikie men bound in leather and patches. In fact I talked to a Joshua Carew’s father in law, and former Rebel during an overcrowded elevator ride to the courtroom. Named Mike, his beer belly and goatee give him a staunch composure but his nerves are evident in his speech as he jokes with us journalists. A neat collared shirt and tie nearly hides a tattoo on his neck, yet I don’t sense an imminent security threat coming from old Mike. In fact, it would appear that not all bikies and their mates are evil brutes. On that day, the judge adjourned his decision and Joshua Carew spent another five nights in solitary confinement. His wife’s reaction was expectable as she addressed media outside the court.

“I think people are getting aware of the fact that these laws do affect ordinary people like our family. Our main focus at the moment is making sure our boys are treated fairly.”

Tracey Carew continues but a well of anguish begins to rise. It trembles through her breath making her posture and speech quiver.

“We’ll keep fighting and hopefully I’ll be able to talk to him on the phone or maybe get a visit, I’m not sure but I haven’t seen him for like a month now.”

More tears flow as empathy within the media scrum begins to rise.

“How would you feel, 23 hours – 24 hours locked in a closed room?”

Not good aye.

Joshua Carew was delivering a pizza to his boss and three other men when he apparently committed the crime of association. Police allege two of those men are members of the Rebels and that the others, including Carew, are their associates. It should also be known that three of these five men are family members, so whether this was a meeting to discuss criminal matters or to simply enjoy beers and pizza with family and friends, will be decided in court this March.

The Premier is now delicately navigating the political demands of VLAD – ensuring his government remains tough on crime but still willing to revisit the laws in 2016 (after the next election of course). Unfortunately criminal gangs don’t have to worry themselves with the politics of mass appeal. Drugs are like any other commodity: where there is demand, there will be supply. Who knows, in several years VLAD may have an impact on Queensland’s drug trade and gang activity thus decreasing supply. If then the government does revise or remove VLAD, bikies will just return to the Queensland drug market, maybe this time driving Corollas instead of Harleys. Then again, they may just never leave either.

It is very difficult to speak out against VLAD without appearing ‘pro-bikie’ and let me say clearly that I am not. But let me say even louder that although VLAD heavily punishes those involved in criminal activity whether directly or indirectly, it does not rehabilitate. Instead it promotes an irrational and over-hyped fear of what is a largely a politicized issue. Criminal bikie gangs exist yes, but they exist because you enjoy MDMA, meth, the big H or whatever.  Supply and demand – we’re all part of the same game baby. My concern: should politicians realize the economic realities of the drug trade and move their target onto the customer? Will 19 year-old club monkeys soon face extended mandatory sentences for the possession of pills? Sounds crazy I know, but so does banning groups of three or more people riding motorbikes together.

In the same way that the name Vlad invokes a certain sense of dodginess, so too does the VLAD act. It forces us citizens to place an unprecedented amount of trust in our government and the Queensland Police Service. We must trust police when they say ordinary people won’t be affected, but the tears of Tracey Carew outside the Supreme Court convince me that even alleged criminals can have ‘ordinary’ families.  In reality, we must hope that police arrest the real criminals. The eventual verdict on the ‘Yandina Five’ will be testimony to this only, in that it could show they are guilty by association. Whether association via family is to be considered a criminal act, this case could see a daunting precedent being set.

In Queensland today there is no cannibalism or impalements, at least until State of Origin starts up again. Instead we have fallen victim to a knee jerk reaction and blinded ourselves to the reality of an issue veiled by the secrecy of the underworld and contorted by politics. Bikie gangs do impact our society through the drug trade yet the criminal and political have now merged, making it difficult to predict how these laws will continue to operate. Either way, now Queensland has provided another reason for the name Vlad to be considered dodgy. Sure, the VLAD act may not be as bloodthirsty as his medieval counterpart, but arresting people while they drink beer and eat pizza is still a real dick move.

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Dominic Cansdale is a budding journalist and political nerd. You can follow him on Twitter @DominicCansdale