NSW motorists should be warned: ‘You are entering car-theft country’

Liberal MP calls for large road signs on the NSW-Victorian border warning NSW motorists of the crime risk they’re taking.

Liberal MP Craig Kelly.

Liberal MP Craig Kelly has called for large road signs on the NSW-Victorian border warning NSW motorists that once they cross, they are “50 per cent more likely” to have their car stolen.

The NSW chairman of parliament’s joint committee on law ­enforcement, Mr Kelly seized on the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council’s latest data that reveals 16,599 cars were stolen in Victoria between October 2016 and September last year, compared with 12,209 in more populous NSW.

In the same period there were 2.22 car thefts per 1000 vehicle registrations in NSW versus 3.33 thefts per 1000 registrations in Victoria. Between 2012-13 and 2016-17, there was a 51.5 per cent increase in Victoria’s car theft rate; in NSW it dropped 23.3 per cent.

“There should be very little difference in the rate of car theft ­between Victoria and NSW,” Mr Kelly said as he pushed for a parliamentary inquiry into the crime.

“With such a dramatic difference, there is a good case that large warning signs should be erected on the NSW-Victorian border ­informing NSW motorists that once they cross into Victoria, they are 50 per cent more likely to have their car stolen.

“If the substantially higher theft rate in Victoria continues, it is possible that NSW motorists will need special insurance cover if they plan to drive across the border into the badlands of Victoria.”

Paul Hollowood, Victoria Police’s acting commander of the southern metropolitan region, said there had been “dramatic changes” over the past two years in the way criminals stole cars, as offenders worked around increased vehicle security technologies.

He said the latest statistics showed a 12.9 per cent annual decrease in stolen vehicles in the state, with almost 3000 fewer thefts compared with the previous 12 months. “While these results are pleasing and we expect the downward trend to continue, we are not complacent and would prefer no one is a victim of car theft,” he said.

“The reality is on average 55 cars a day are stolen in Victoria and we need to continue to look at innovative ways such as live tracking to respond to and deter offenders. We have established dedicated vehicle crime teams, networked across the state, targeting thefts of and from vehicle offences and the criminals who commit them.”

Victorian Liberal MP Jason Wood, a former policeman, said governments needed to focus on early intervention to break the crime cycle by employing more youth workers and ­engaging young people in education and sport.

He backed Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s controversial comments that people in Melbourne were “scared to go out at night” because of African street gangs.

“There’s something wrong in Victoria compared to the other states. I’ve been speaking to people who are scared to sleep in their own bed because of what’s happening. They’ve had their cars stolen or house broken into, it’s a huge problem,” Mr Wood said.

“What you’re finding is overall you’ve got more burglaries, more robberies, you’ve got more car theft and where this impacts nat­ionally is insurance premiums go up because of what’s happening in Victoria,” he said.

Victoria Police and the theft ­reduction council started a GPS tracking trial last month. “Car thieves are now ­officially on notice — the car they plan to steal may be equipped with a tracking device that police can trace in real time,” Mr Hollowood said.