Children hired by underworld target of NSW gang violence crackdown

New laws, tougher penalties to be introduced to crack down on NSW gang violence In short: The NSW government has announced a package of new laws aimed at tackling gang-related crime following two suspected mistaken identity murders. The proposed changes include tougher penalties for those caught planning a gang hit and young people contracted to commit violence. Additional funding will also go towards helping NSW Police crack encrypted devices and digital platforms used by organised crime networks. Young people have been warned they could face adult penalties if they are convicted of organised crime violence, as part of a government crackdown on those planning gang-related hits. It comes as NSW Police continue to investigate the suspected mistaken identity shootings of university student Marco Tapia and 40-year-old Joshua Macdonald last week. NSW Premier Chris Minns on Monday announced a swathe of proposed legislative measures aimed at disrupting and prosecuting organised crime violence. "It seems as if some of that violence as spilled into innocent parties … and families being ruined who have had nothing to do with organised crime behaviour," he said. "This is immoral, evil behaviour from organisations that are intent on making money from the misery of other people in our community and we are determined to stop it." Under the legislative changes, new aggravated offences would be introduced for conspiracy and attempted murder, with the maximum penalty increased from 25 years in jail to life imprisonment. Interim orders will be introduced to allow urgent restrictions to be imposed on where a person can go, who they can talk to, and what devices they can access even before a full order is made by the Supreme Court. Serious children's indictable offences will also be expanded to cover conduct linked with organised crime, such as public shootings and firebombings. As a result, young people accused of such offences would be tried in higher courts, and risk facing adult penalties, if convicted. Police have previously said underworld figures who moved offshore were contracting young people to carry out killings and other violent crime. NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said some children were being contracted "for a very small amount of money" and had a disregard for the consequences of their actions. "The police force will continue relentlessly to target these people," he said. "But there are mums and dads and members of the community who know that some of these young people are out and about and they know they are mixing with people and getting themselves into trouble … we need that information. "We don't want any family to go through the loss of a young person or any life." New tech to 'smash open' networks Mr Minns said the government would also invest $15 million to expand NSW Police technology capabilities to "smash open" criminal networks using encrypted devices and digital platforms to communicate. The state government and NSW Police have repeatedly rejected suggestions they have lost control of organised crime in Sydney, but Mr Minns acknowledged the nature of the violence had changed. "We do think there is a problem. [There is] a disregard for human life that I haven't really seen before,"he said. "It's been a regrettable and horrible part of life in Sydney that criminals have murdered other criminals but the disregard for people now is … reprehensible. "It represents a change to the criminal behaviour of these groups in Sydney and it needs to be confronted with cutting-edge laws and changes to technology." The NSW government earlier this year proposed separate legislative reform to deter criminal gangs from using young people and so called "kill cars" in organised violence. The 2026-27 state budget allocated $126 million to modernise the way the NSW Police responds to underworld crime. Mr Minns said those previous reforms had not been "a waste of time". "The police have been able to have the resources and the manpower to target and arrest people who have committed offences, often murder or public place shootings," he said. "What this new tranche of reform hopes to achieve is to prevent it from happening in the first place."