Chroming crisis: ‘You can’t enforce a law that doesn’t exist’

A frustrated Brisbane Lord Mayor says why is it that people drinking coffees can get kicked off local bus services but those spotted chroming on buses are doing “nothing illegal”.

ADRIAN Schrinner has called for a State Government chroming ban on the city’s public transport network and for penalties to be introduced to crack down on the ongoing problem.

The Lord Mayor on Wednesday said he did not want to make it illegal for passengers to carry aerosol cans onto buses, but insisted his administration wanted to ban the “inappropriate use” of the cans.

It comes after the Rail, Tram and Bus Union launched a petition asking the council, instead of the State Government, to ban chroming.

Cr Schrinner said he and his deputy had already written to Transport Minister Mark Bailey asking the State to take action.

“Why is a coffee illegal on a bus, but it is not illegal to chrome,” he said.

“You can’t enforce a law that doesn’t exist. There are ways to deal with it – we just need the political will from the State Government. It is pretty simple to change the rules.”

A still from CCTV footage on a Brisbane City Bus purporting to show youths chroming.

Mr Bailey said powers were already in place for authorities to remove passengers from buses who were engaged in “anti-social behaviour”, including chroming.

“The Lord Mayor knows this and he’s just playing some politics with an election four weeks away,” he said.

“If (passengers are) doing things that are affecting other passengers, they will be removed from the bus.”

Cr Schrinner said there had been reports of people who had chromed attacking other passengers.

He described the practice as “really, seriously dangerous to people’s health”, and said penalties for chroming needed to be “enough” to deter the behaviour.

“Confiscation could be one of those things,” he said.

Labor’s lord mayoral candidate Patrick Condren said chroming was “another scourge” that needed to be addressed, and said a ban on chroming on buses was a good idea.

“I was out at Nundah this afternoon … and I ran into a couple of bus drivers and I was talking to them about it and they felt it was a good idea as well,” Mr Condren said.

Originally published as Chroming crisis: ‘You can’t enforce a law that doesn’t exist’