Bikers

"It's just ridiculous and the Government is not doing anything but burying its head in the sand and using any excuse not to introduce the appropriate legislation."

If our lunch time discussions are anything to go by, it's not burying our head in the sand which is the problem. It is bikers holding us to ransom as a community. A number of people had tales to tell of takeovers of country towns by bikers who were on their interstate or country runs. They would come in as a group, do as they pleased, ignore signs and then leave. People spoke of being worried and how quiet everyone would be and how they would just take it. This is intimidation. What they also said was they didn't think all bikers were like that and that when they left the towns there was not a spot of rubbish to be found. You see, the problem is, they are frightening. Whether they mean to be or not, they have got everyone frightened and so we think there is no one strong enough to stand up to them and then we were fearful for anyone who did. We are not stupid. There are a lot of bikers who are indulging in a life of violence. We read about it all the time. Some of us know about it. Adelaide is a small place. So if you stand up to them, then you run the risk of being harmed. That is how people see it. If bikers do not want us to think like that then they have to change their PR. The other thing which is clear is that their values are quite different from the majority of Australians. They have a different way of going about things and the tough way of doing things no longer sits comfortably with our predominantly middle class values. Some of this could be clarified and negotiated. Some of this could be re interpreted . We have come to realise we don't feel safe. We just don't, and we don't want anyone to stand up and put their own lives and families at risk. So yes, we need a group which can get the balance back. For a lot of years we have lived alongside bikers and it really hasn't been a problem but now it is. The balance has gone.