Criminals who buy flashy cars, jet-skis and homes with the proceeds of crime will have their assets removed under a state government crackdown on serious lawbreakers.
NSW Premier Mike Baird and Police Minister Stuart Ayres announced an arsenal of tough new powers on Tuesday at Granville police station.
The seat of Granville is held by Liberal MP Tony Issa on a tight margin, and the area has been the scene of numerous drive-by shootings in recent years.
Introducing the law and order debate to the state election campaign, Mr Ayres described the new regime as "the strongest attack on organised crime we've seen anywhere in the country".
However Labor said the announcement lacked detail and was "nothing more than talk", claiming the government has failed to crack down on violence and shootings since it took power.
A strict new confiscation regime – which Mr Ayres labelled the most significant ever introduced in NSW – will streamline the process used to seize the property of criminals.
"Criminals who hide their money in assets like cars, jet-skis, homes - we are coming after you," he said.
"We are going to put the value of those proceeds into crime-fighting techniques and equipment and we are going to give that money back to people who have been victims of crime."
If a criminal used someone else's property, such as dealing drugs from a house they do not own, new substitution orders could allow property of the same value to be seized from the offender.
The government will also give police extra powers to prevent crime by introducing serious crime prevention orders, restricting the activities of people and businesses involved in serious crime.
The orders, which have long been used in Britain, could be served against people who have not been convicted of a crime, however Mr Ayres rejected suggestions innocent people would be targeted.
He said cases against criminals took time to build, but in the meantime, the government would not "wait for that crime to happen".
Orders served before a conviction would have to be approved by the Supreme Court.
"We've got to be able to build a case that's strong enough to get a conviction … That said, if we've got the intelligence that shows us they are likely to participate in crime that's of a serious nature it's incumbent on us to do everything we can to stop that," he said.
Mr Ayres said the orders may restrict the number of mobile phones or bank accounts someone operates. If someone had been involved in sophisticated counterfeiting operations "we might only allow you to use a bubble jet printer so you cant use your counterfeiting skills to the detriment of the community," he said.
In addition, new public safety orders would prevent people from attending places where they may commit a crime. They could be issued by senior police and overseen by a court, targeting "would-be violent trouble makers" who pose a serious risk to public safety. It would prevent them from attending particular places, such as a sporting event or a suburb.
Mr Baird said police need powers to respond quickly and effectively to organised crime.
"We want to close loopholes that serious criminals exploit to continue their criminal behaviour," he said.
Those who fail to comply with the orders could be jailed for up to five years.
Under a new crackdown on money laundering, offences involving more than $100,000 could attract a five-year jail term, or three-year term for offences involving less than $100,000.
Labor's police spokesman Steve Whan said since new gang laws came into effect two years ago, the government has failed to declare a single new gang.
"Why is the government now talking about new laws when they haven't even used the current ones?" Mr Whan said.
"The Liberals and Nationals should focus on getting guns off the streets and keeping guns out of criminals' hands, and not simply more empty rhetoric."
He said there had been 459 shootings, killing 34 people, since the government took power. However Mr Ayers said statistics showed "gun crime in NSW is down. Any suggestion otherwise is another blatant lie by Labor".
