Toowoomba leads country in car theft

Car owners in major cities like Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle and Darwin are safer than Toowoomba according to new data released today.

Toowoomba may be Australia’s 16th largest city but it has ranked as one of the top five car theft capitals in the country with almost two cars stolen every single day.

The depth of the Garden City’s worsening car theft crisis has seen the city of 134,000 beat out Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Newcastle and Darwin for vehicles stolen per capita.

The car theft data released by Budget Direct shows 657 cars were stolen in Toowoomba in 2021.

This is behind 3623 in Brisbane, 2591 at the Gold Coast, 1118 in Townsville and 936 from Cairns.

Adelaide is sixth with 504 cars stolen in 2021.

In a bad sign for the Queensland Government, the Sunshine State as a whole leads the nation with 15,805 cars stolen in 2021.

Victoria follows with 15,353 car thefts and 10,473 in New South Wales for the same time period.

Budget Direct accessed Australian Bureau of Statistics data about car registration and crime for each state and ranked the figures by local government area.

The shocking statistics come as Toowoomba grapples with the tragic loss of a 13-year-old boy’s life after the stolen car he was travelling in rolled on the Warrego Highway on Monday.

Keyhill Gibbs was in the vehicle when it left the road between Toowoomba and Oakey about 8.30am at speed and rolled several times.

Two boys were arrested and charged with offences relating to the while a third boy is fighting for his life in ICU at the Brisbane Childrens Hospital.

Toowoomba North MP Trevor Watts said the data confirmed a palpable feeling among the city’s residents.

“They are under attack from criminals and it is completely unacceptable,” he said.

“The police need people who have committed crimes to be held accountable by the judiciary, and the judiciary needs the Palaszczuk Government to strengthen the legislation to achieve this.

“More than all of that, we need to make sure that the next generation doesn’t follow the examples they see.

“We as a community need to ensure services are available to help the next generation be a part of our community, not against it.

“The Government must commit more funding to police resources, community based support services, and programs for vulnerable children.”

Toowoomba South MP David Janetzki seconded Mr Watts’ concerns.

“Teenage thieves have turned car theft into a sport,” he said.

“They compete against each other stealing luxury cars and brazenly boast about their exploits online.”

“Almost every day I hear these stories from our community – unable to drive their children to school, unable to drive to work, losing valuable and irreplaceable possession and being left with costly insurance and repair bills.

“they have had enough.”

Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan rejected the critcism.

He said the State Government was committed to more police resources.

“It appears the Member for Toowoomba North has failed to read 2022-023 budget papers which include a record police budget of more than $3 billion – an investment that includes funding for vital resources to support the operational capabilities of a world-class police service,” he said.

“Any instance of crime is unacceptable and one of, if not the, greatest deterrent to crime, is “boots on the ground” – police being seen.

There are 540 approved police officer positions in the Darling Downs Police District, which includes Toowoomba, with more to come. Just last week in Toowoomba I announced 29 extra police for the region.”