Why I started a Knit Your Revolt Tricycle Gang in Queensland | The Stitch (original) (raw)
The Knit Your Revolt Tricycle Gang is recruiting in Queensland. We are looking for like-minded folks who enjoy a bit of public guerilla craft, naughty knitting, seditious stitching, and the wind in their woolen streamers.
We don’t ride motorcycles, but we recently rode amongst thousands of them at a rally protesting Campbell Newman’s “anti-bikie” laws, with our crafted gang patches proudly on display. The laws, as they stand, make it illegal to be associated with members of certain organisations, and will potentially going to affect many people outside of the "1%er" outlaw motorcycle gangs.
When members of Pussy Riot were jailed in Russia for an act of public craftivism, many in Australia were outraged and grateful that surely nothing like that could happen here. But, could it? When I started forming the gang a few weeks ago and asked my lawyer whether we could be imprisoned under the new legislation for our gang wearing “colours”, riding on the footpath and writing in chalk provocatively, he replied that he “wasn’t sure”. I was warned by many to give up on the gang idea, that it was too risky. Many contacted me saying that they loved the idea, but were too scared of the repercussions to join.
'Bikies laws waste police resources chasing down any motorcyclist with a beard and tattoos'. Photograph: The Stitch Photograph: The stitch
The response from my family and those around me has varied. Some were confused: “why are you supporting criminals?”, while others were grateful that someone else feels passionately enough to test these laws with the most absurd proposition that anyone could dream of.
Why should the average person care about these laws? Because they waste police resources chasing down any motorcyclist with a beard and tattoos, because they reverse the burden of proof in our law system from innocent until proven guilty to guilty by association until you prove your innocence, because people should be allowed to join a ridiculous tricycle gang of knitters and colour outside of the squares without having to fear being treated as though they are a serious threat to our community.
Campbell is a serious threat to our way of life and the Australian values that we cherish: larrikinism, hanging with our mates, having fun, being politically free to creatively provoke, to express ourselves, to playfully challenge authority and to associate with whatever colourful characters we please. Yes, we also value freedom from crimes committed by outlaw motorcycle gangs, but by definition they are “outlaws” – new laws outlawing outlaws and threatening freedom-lovers with prison is more absurd than adults riding yarn-bombed tricycles.
You may not knit. You may not ride a motorcycle, or a tricycle. You may not care about whether a drumming circle was intimidated by police citing this legislation, or whether a guy was interrogated for hours for writing in chalk on the footpath, or that everyday motorcyclists or those with tattoos are being discriminated against.
A gang member on the loose. Photograph: The Stitch Photograph: The Stitch
However, you probably enjoy going to parties with more than a dozen people. Well, the bad news for Queenslanders is that the fun police are officially in power. They may dismissively say that this is not the way the laws are intended to be administered but the fact is that so far, the implementation of the laws has led to fear and intimidation of groups who are not outlaw bikies.
Whilst the recreational motorcyclists are the ones most likely to be affected initially, because of their shared love of motorcycles and certain attire with the outlaw gangs, I am also concerned about media reports that these laws have been used to intimidate and discriminate against ordinary people who like to "colour outside the squares", such as the chap who was detained by police for hours for chalk-writing on the footpath at West End, the drumming circle at the Stradbroke Island music festival, the chap wearing a "Sons of Anarchy" shirt, the tourist with tattoos, or the recent strip search of a recreational biker.
Moral of the story? If you are visiting Queensland and don’t want to worry about prison, hang out with boring types. Remember, two’s company, three might be illegal (and ask for everyone’s rap sheet and interrogate them in case they are contemplating getting a parking ticket). Either that, or raise a wooly finger to the man and come join our tricycle gang. We are united in our quest for freedom, civil liberties, and the concept of "being innocent until proven guilty".