CMC to get unprecedented gang powers QUEENSLAND'S crime watchdog will be given unprecedented powers to call in and question suspected members of organised criminal gangs. The move is part of the Queensland government's plan to crack down on criminal bikie gangs in the state. Under laws to be introduced to parliament next week, the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) will be given more power to call in suspected crime gang members to face its star chamber. Suspects could face mandatory jail terms if they refuse to answer the CMC's questions, the ABC reports. Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie says the watchdog will also be given an extra $7 million to fight crime. "The CMC is hamstrung at the moment with respect to who they can call and what their purpose of calling those people is for," he told the ABC on Friday. We're going to very much broaden that so the CMC, on a reasonable suspicion, will be able to call people for crime purposes, for investigative purposes and gathering criminal intelligence purposes. These are unprecedented powers. Mr Bleijie said the CMC bureaucracy currently meant the only way it could investigate such matters was by particular referrals. "The referrals take time," he said. The referrals then are subject to limitation on the length of time one would serve in jail in terms of maximum sentence. We're going to change all that. Mr Bleijie and other state and territory attorneys-general are meeting on Friday with federal Attorney-General George Brandis. Mr Bleijie said he wanted to cooperate with the federal government, but again stressed Queensland would be keeping its current laws aimed at cracking down on criminal bikie gangs. He said Senator Brandis had recently announced he'd be looking at federal laws to crack down on unexplained wealth. That's fine. We already have our unexplained wealth laws. It's about making sure ours work with their federal laws, and not against each other's," Mr Bleijie told ABC radio.