Page 886 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 30 March 1993
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The 85 per cent, Mr Humphries, refers to the fact that, in the six-month period, we had done 85 per cent more random breath tests than in the equivalent six-month period. That is something I am sure you would say is good news rather than bad news. I am quite happy to table that document, which is as I provided it to certain media outlets.
Motor Vehicle Thefts
MR WESTENDE: My question is also directed to the Minister responsible for police, Mr Connolly. Can the Minister confirm or deny that the Australian Federal Police are giving consideration to the establishment of a task force to combat car theft in Canberra? If the answer is yes, and given the Minister's assertion that car theft is falling, what is the reason for the establishment of this task force?
MR CONNOLLY: Madam Speaker, I would adopt the practice of not confirming or denying when police establish task forces. Police establish task forces to deal with particular crime incidents. We were happy to say that the police established a task force to deal with Belconnen burglaries last year. The result of that task force was the bringing before the Supreme Court of a gentleman who was conducting a ring whereby juveniles did housebreaks and stole videos and TVs, and brought them to this individual, and he exchanged the goods for drugs. That gentleman was brought before the Supreme Court and given a very substantial term of imprisonment. That was the result of a task force. If I were to announce the formation of task forces as they are formed by police management, I would be flagging to those who are serious about criminal activity in this Territory, "Listen, chaps, you should lie low for a little while because we have created a police task force". I will be happy to announce the results of police task forces after the event, but I will not confirm or deny the creation of task forces as they are being created.
Yes, we regard car theft as a problem. The rate is coming down, but it is still a problem. Any crime is a problem. We have responded in the last 12 months or so to police requests that we speed things up and make ourselves more effective in relation to car thefts. One of the results of that is the frustration that some members of the public are now feeling - and they will have come to opposition members - at the delays they experience when they go to the Motor Vehicle Registry to first register a second-hand motor vehicle, that is, a second-hand motor vehicle which is not in current registration, an older motor vehicle for first registration. It was previously very easy to register that type of motor vehicle in the ACT. As a result of discussions between the AFP and the New South Wales police, we had reason to believe that the New South Wales system of getting tough on motor vehicle theft was susceptible to being subverted by people stealing cars, stripping them, rebuilding them, bringing the vehicle to Canberra, registering the vehicle here so that it gets legal registration, and then bringing it back into the New South Wales market.
It is now quite a task, requiring the production of quite a lot of identifying documents, to first register a motor vehicle in the ACT. I have had complaints to my office about that, and I have had to say to genuine people who have rebuilt a motor vehicle, "I am sorry about the delays, but it is part of our approach to making it harder to steal cars". We will continue to bring forward initiatives to make it harder for people to steal cars, but I will not confirm or deny the existence of that task force, or of any police task force, for the reasons I have outlined.
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