Brisbane tow truck scandal: New unit to weed out dodgy operators

DODGY tow truck drivers who have flown under the radar of lax monitoring are set to be weeded out of the industry.

SUNDAY MAIL ONLY : Tow truck leaving Cactus Towing impoundment yard.

DODGY tow-truck drivers who have flown under the radar of lax monitoring are set to be weeded out of the industry under planned new laws.

Tow truck inquiry head and former district court judge Michael Forde has flagged his reforms will spell a wider crackdown on existing tow truck licence holders who may have slipped between the cracks, with information suggesting a lack of Government regulation of the industry.

It is part of a far-reaching clean-up of the towing industry triggered by complaints about predatory behaviour by unlicensed tow truck drivers targeting private parking lots.

The shark-like tactics were exposed by The Sunday Mail investigation in May.

Mr Forde said the complaints hotline set-up for the inquiry into private property towing will become a permanent fixture to dob-in rogue towies, who can be hauled in for questioning.

Officers in the unit “will have the ability to call that person in and determine whether their licence will be suspended or not.”

The inquiry heard that even the existing outdated laws were not being enforced, meaning operators with a tow-truck licence were avoiding scrutiny.

Government statistics showed just 212 towing fines in the four years to 2016.

Mr Forde said “it was difficult to discern from our interviews that there was ongoing scrutiny once the (tow truck) licence was granted”.

He also took into account the low number of infringements.

“That might reflect a good industry or an industry that’s not properly policed,” he said.

“We had certain information put before us that would indicate better scrutiny is required.”

Former District Court Judge Michael Forde. Picture: Darren England

The inquiry has also triggered an internal review by Brisbane City Council of its towing from driveways and clearways to see if any improvements can be made.

Council currently takes a $48 cut from each $220 tow fee paid by the owners of towed cars.

It collected almost $250,000 in towing fees last financial year, but says the cost of administrating towing from clearways and managing the tow contract in 2016 was $1.3 million.

Mr Forde, who once worked on the Fitzgerald inquiry, said he found the level of intimidation from unlicenced tow-truck drivers related by those who called the inquiry “disturbing”.

He said some property owners worked in “cahoots” with tow-truck operators to rake in an estimated $20,000 a week by towing cars from the car park.

“Our information was that there were kickbacks to the owner in some instances,” he said. “It’s a very predatory business model.”

As revealed by The Sunday Mail last week, proposed new laws will stamp out profiteering by capping tow fees to $250 a tow, limiting storage to $25-a-day and requiring drivers hold a tow truck-licence for private property towing.

Sunday Mail journalists Kelmeny Fraser and Charlie Peel have been named finalists in Queensland’s most prestigious media awards, the Clarions for their special investigation into the tow truck industry.