Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard orders probe into suburban violence

Police ready to put down Logan violence

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is exploring what her government can do to tackle the recent violence in suburban Brisbane and Sydney.

Referring to the street clashes in Brisbane and the spate of shootings in Sydney’s west and south-west, Ms Gillard said during her launch of a cybersafety program that she has asked the Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare to ”prepare . . . some options to address this violence and to explore the limits of the federal government’s legal and constitutional responsibilities in this area”.

”At this time all levels of government need to be doing everything that can be done to address this violence,” Ms Gillard said.

”We’ve seen overnight yet again a report of another shooting in Sydney’s south-west . . . We are seeing reports of violence in suburbs in Brisbane.

”People who make their lives in these suburbs, in these parts of our great nation, deserve to be able to get about their business, to raise their families in an environment that is safe and secure and peaceful.”

In the Sydney incident, a senior member of the  Hells Angels motorcycle club was gunned down in his western Sydney business on Tuesday afternoon in a violent altercation that also left another club member with a bullet wound.

And in the Brisbane suburb of Logan, police have made arrests after racial clashes between Aboriginal and Pacific Islander families, although the families now say the feud is over.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that state governments and police authorities were principally responsible for containing suburban violence and said it ”wouldn’t be right” for her to step into the shoes of state government.

But Ms Gillard believes the federal government can bolster the work of the states.

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