Shadow Police Minister Glenn Butcher blasts LNP for closing engine immobiliser trial

The state Labor party is refusing to let the LNP government get away with its “outrageous decision” to scrap North Queensland’s engine immobiliser trial.

Shadow Police Minister Glenn Butcher called on the LNP Crisafulli Government to reverse its short-sighted decision to axe Queensland’s engine immobiliser trial. He also said that car thefts in Townsville are up 10 per cent in the first three months of this year, when compared to the same period in 2024. Picture: David Clark

The state Labor party is refusing to let the LNP government get away with its “outrageous decision” to scrap North Queensland’s engine immobiliser trial.

Labor was ropeable when Police Minister Dan Purdie blasted what he called a “costly failure” and halted the state-wide rollout of the program, claiming a review showed the immobilisers had no impact on car-theft rates during the trial.

Shadow Police Minister Glenn Butcher called on the Crisafulli Government to reverse its “short-sighted decision” to cut the program and for Mr Purdie to release the Queensland Police Service’s official evaluation report.

He called on Mr Butcher to put politics aside and provide police with every tool available to target youth crime.

“The engine immobiliser scheme was a policy brought to government by police, it was backed by police and it was to help our police,” he said.

“This is a clear as day cut by the police minister who said he was going to give the front-line every tool at their disposal to stop youth crime.”

Police Minister Dan Purdie blasted what he called a “costly failure” and halted the state-wide rollout of Queensland’s engine immobiliser trial. The LNP says there have been “several instances” where vehicles fitted with the immobilisers were stolen. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Mr Butcher said Mr Purdie claimed he axed the scheme on the advice of police “but has failed to back up that claim”.

“Police say not one car fitted with this technology had been stolen and a recent case in Townsville shows just how effective it can be,” he said.

“David Crisafulli said crime would be fixed by Christmas last year, and it’s not, which is why we need tools like the engine immobiliser to help curb youth crime.”

Car thefts in Townsville are up 10 per cent in the first three months of this year, when compared to the same period in 2024.

Mr Purdie has previously blasted the trial as “another costly Labor failure, created to cover up the youth-crime crisis”, saying the review found that the immobilisers had no impact on car theft rates during the trial period.

Mr Butcher, however, said the decision occurred just days before police stated on April 2 that a youth offender had been charged with attempting to steal a car fitted with an immobiliser.

Originally published as Shadow Police Minister Glenn Butcher blasts LNP for closing engine immobiliser trial