Wife of alleged Qld bikie says prison visiting rights revoked

Updated

The wife of an alleged bikie says she is being denied access to her jailed husband as she is deemed an associate under Queensland's new anti-bikie laws.

It comes as Australia's next human rights commissioner has repeated his concerns about the limits on association under the Queensland laws.

Joshua Shane Carew is one of five alleged bikie club members who have been charged with meeting at a Sunshine Coast pub last November.

Tracy Carew says she believes her prison visit rights have been revoked because she publicly criticised the State Government's legislation.

"I've been trying to demand answers from [Attorney-General] Jarrod Bleijie and Campbell Newman about whether or not I am deemed an associate," she said.

"I'm the closest person to these three men, and they won't give me a direct answer and that's a really scary thought, and it should be a scary thought for the rest of the Queensland people."

Issuing a statement today on his website, incoming human rights commissioner Tim Wilson said: "The imprisonment of people for free association who are not otherwise engaged in criminal activity is deeply, deeply disturbing".

"The fact that other states have and continue to look at replicating these laws is equally disturbing," he added.

Mrs Carew says she is getting a lot of attention for being an outspoken critic of the new laws.

"I'm not just fighting for my husband and brother and friends, I'm fighting for all Queenslanders because the reality is it will affect everybody in some way," she said.

Queensland Corrective Services says it cannot give details of a prisoner's visitation rights for security and privacy reasons.

Topics: programs-and-initiatives, activism-and-lobbying, laws, state-parliament, maroochydore-4558

First posted