When hundreds of Rebels bikies decided to ride their Harleys to Canberra for this weekend's celebratory meeting from all points of the country, they knew they were painting a huge target on each of their backs.
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"Everyone was warned; everyone knew," Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang spokesman "Little Mick", from Brisbane, said.
"But that doesn't mean what our blokes copped getting here was in any way fair or right."
Another senior Rebels member said in the two-hour ride from Sydney to the ACT, he was stopped by police three times, his licence and registration was checked and his $30,000 Harley Davidson examined for defects.
"My bike is brand new; it's done less than 1000 kays (kilometres)," Sydney chapter boss David Lowe said.
"How is it going to have a defect?"
The ACT's choice as the venue for the huge Rebels gathering, with around 450 members arriving from interstate to a venue near Symonston, has again drawn a sharp focus on the highly politicised discussion of consorting laws.
It's where the ACT and NSW governments sit on opposite sides of the political fence. The bigger jurisdiction has taken a hard-line approach with laws primarily aimed at harassing and disrupting outlaw motorcycle gang activity, while the ACT has stepped well back, Labor and Greens members variously describing consorting laws as "poorly framed", discriminatory and in breach of human rights.
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But it is well-remembered NSW has seen a nightmarish amount of bikie-fuelled violence through the years, from the so-called Milperra massacre of 1984 between the Bandidos and Comancheros to the savage, public and fatal brawl between members of the Comancheros and Hells Angels in the Sydney Airport domestic terminal.
This 2009 incident is widely regarded as the event which pulled the political trigger on consorting laws.
After that incident, in which Comancheros boss Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi was found guilty of murder and affray, NSW enacted the toughest consorting laws in the country and created the well-funded and highly mobile Strike Force Raptor teams, specifically aimed at harassing and disrupting bikie activity.
Even now, 15 years and two major reviews later, the consorting laws still exist, albeit in more diminished form. Some OMCGs arguably have a more violent reputation than others but nonetheless, all have been scooped up by the legislation.
The ACT has small chapters of four OMCGs - the Comancheros, Finks, Rebels and Hells Angels. The most recent and significant bikie-related incident in Canberra was the fatal stabbing of Comancheros boss Pitasoni Ulavalu inside Civic's Komoko's nightclub in 2020.
Gathering in Canberra to pay tribute to some of their longest-serving members - two of whom have been with the club for 50 years - two senior members of the largest and most established OMCG in the country said consorting laws or not, the clubs have endured - and will continue to do so.
"First of all they brand you as a criminal. How does being a Rebel make you a criminal? I've got no criminal record," said Little Mick.
"Look at the shit they [the police] put us through just so we can wear these vests.
"The thing is this lifestyle has been around since the 60s. We've been in existence since 1969.
"And they think in 10 years they are going to shut down a whole lifestyle?
"They've tried to shut all these clubs down but all they've done is gone underground."
