http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25065860-5006301,00.html

OUTLAW motorcycle gangs will mass in Gawler for their biggest gathering yet in a defiant show of strength against the State Government's new anti-bikie laws.

Hundreds of bikers, from all chapters of the state's feared outlaw motorcycle clubs, including the Hells Angels, Finks, Rebels and Descendants, are expected to conduct a mass ride through the Barossa Valley on March 14 in the Gypsy Jokers' annual poker run.

"We will all come together and we will all unite," one member of the Gypsy Jokers said yesterday.

And he said the bikie clubs would continue to fight State Government laws which could make membership of motorcycle clubs illegal if the Government declared them to be criminal gangs.

"No matter what, we will still be around, we will be in jail if that's what it means," he said.

Premier Mike Rann dismissed the apparent harmony between the traditional rivals as a "stunt" and said the clubs could "protest or squirm as much as they like".

"As for claims they're being united, the last time claims were made by apologists for the bikies that they were being united by our tough laws, it was no time before they were shooting and stabbing each other again," Mr Rann said.

Alerted to the meeting by The Advertiser, Police Assistant Commissioner Tony Harrison said it was "very unusual" for rival clubs to co-operate on this kind of event.

"We would treat any matter such as this from a road safety perspective and if it requires policing it will be policed," he said.

The gathering has been dubbed the Freedom of Association Protest Poker Run, and it is the first time different clubs, many of them long-time enemies, will ride together.

The run has been sparked by the State Government's Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act, which came into force late last year. Under the Act, Police Commissioner Mal Hyde can ask the State Government to "declare" a bikie gang a proscribed organisation, making it possible for individual members to face harsh sanctions if they associate or communicate with one another.

The Finks is the first club to be subject to the law and Attorney-General Michael Atkinson is expected to announce his decision within the month on whether it will be made illegal.

If the decision is handed down before March 14, the poker run could be the first serious test of the Government's new laws, although there is a provision in the Act that protects the right to "participate in advocacy, protest, dissent or industrial action".

The run is not the first act of unity between the clubs, which have formed the Free Australia Party to oppose the new laws.

Last Saturday, The Advertiser's new magazine, SA Weekend, also revealed outlaw clubs had been meeting to set aside differences and to work together to fight the State Government.

It is expected the clubs could eventually take their challenge to the new laws all the way to the High Court.

Descendants Motorcycle Club president Tom Mackie said his members were committed to fighting the Government. "We're going to ride like we always have," he said.

The poker run leaves from the Old Spot Hotel in Gawler and traditionally receives significant police attention.

But Mr Mackie predicted authorities might take a different approach this year, due to the vastly increased numbers. "It may alter the way they treat us," he said.

"Normally they jump all over these kinds of things and try to intimidate people. But that may change if they know all the clubs are coming.

"It may get worse – or for all we know they might step back and not do a goddamn thing. We think it's wise to resist right from the get-go."