Maltese rebel bike gang leader to fight Australia ban - ‘I’m no criminal – so why cancel my visa?’

 

Alex Vella, president of Australia’s largest bikie gang, cannot understand why he has been locked out of Australia when his police conduct is completely untarnished.

News that the biker’s visa was cancelled, effectively barring him from returning Down Under after holidaying in Malta, spread like wildfire and made inter­national headlines.

The biker is putting his trust in his Sydney and Brisbane lawyers to get him home to Australia after his visa was cancelled on Friday.

“We want to know the grounds on which they cancelled my visa,” the 60-year-old said, speaking alongside his son, Alex Vella Jr.

“They said I’m not of ‘sound character’. But my police conduct is clean,” Mr Vella insists.

Mr Vella has lived in Australia for 46 years, after he emigrated to the country with his Maltese parents and siblings in 1967.

He describes himself as a property investor and buys and sells properties, as well as motorbikes and cars. He currently owns eight properties and is the national president of the Rebels Motorcycle Club, which encapsulates some 70 chapters (branches) nationwide and over 2,000 members.

However, he does not possess Australian citizenship, despite applying for it twice.