❓ Mrs. Roberts questions the Minister for Police about WA's high car theft rate compared to other states and the national average. The Minister acknowledges the issue and outlines strategies being implemented, including GPS tracking and addressing recidivist home burglars.
AnsweredQoN 91Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CRIME
STATISTICS — CAR THEFT
91. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the
Minister for Police:
I again refer the minister to the ABS crime statistics
released last week.
(1) Is the
minister aware that Western Australia is number one amongst the states for car
theft?
(2) Is the
minister aware that the rate of car theft in WA increased from 0.9 per cent of
population in 2012–13 to 1.1 per cent of population in 2013–14?
(3) Can the
minister explain why car theft in Western Australia is almost double the
national average and increasing under her watch?
STATISTICS — CAR THEFT
91. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the
Minister for Police:
I again refer the minister to the ABS crime statistics
released last week.
(1) Is the
minister aware that Western Australia is number one amongst the states for car
theft?
(2) Is the
minister aware that the rate of car theft in WA increased from 0.9 per cent of
population in 2012–13 to 1.1 per cent of population in 2013–14?
(3) Can the
minister explain why car theft in Western Australia is almost double the
national average and increasing under her watch?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Midland for
this question.
(1)–(3) We
have been aware that there is a problem with car theft in Western Australia and
we have put together a team of police officers who are specifically targeting
that particular issue. We have also entered into a joint arrangement with the
RAC and with some of the national motoring organisations to implement a
brand-new scheme in Western Australia, which is a GPS tracking scheme. This scheme
will allow people to have a GPS tracker fitted to their vehicle that they can
link to their iPhone to put a secure shield, if you like, around their vehicle.
If that vehicle escapes from that shield, it will alert the people who have
that mobile phone and also the police about where that vehicle is. We have some
strategies and innovations in that area of car theft that we are trying to
address to drive down the rate of theft.
We also know that in many cases
car theft in Western Australia is linked to home burglary and that people break
into homes specifically to steal car keys. Members will be aware that there is
legislation before this house around recidivist home burglars, in which we want
to change the three-strikes laws and get those people behind bars after they
commit three offences. I expect that once this legislation comes into place and
we put prolific offenders behind bars, we will see a significant drop in the
number of both home burglaries and car thefts, particularly in those instances
in which they are so intrinsically linked.
this question.
(1)–(3) We
have been aware that there is a problem with car theft in Western Australia and
we have put together a team of police officers who are specifically targeting
that particular issue. We have also entered into a joint arrangement with the
RAC and with some of the national motoring organisations to implement a
brand-new scheme in Western Australia, which is a GPS tracking scheme. This scheme
will allow people to have a GPS tracker fitted to their vehicle that they can
link to their iPhone to put a secure shield, if you like, around their vehicle.
If that vehicle escapes from that shield, it will alert the people who have
that mobile phone and also the police about where that vehicle is. We have some
strategies and innovations in that area of car theft that we are trying to
address to drive down the rate of theft.
We also know that in many cases
car theft in Western Australia is linked to home burglary and that people break
into homes specifically to steal car keys. Members will be aware that there is
legislation before this house around recidivist home burglars, in which we want
to change the three-strikes laws and get those people behind bars after they
commit three offences. I expect that once this legislation comes into place and
we put prolific offenders behind bars, we will see a significant drop in the
number of both home burglaries and car thefts, particularly in those instances
in which they are so intrinsically linked.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.