Criminal Law Consolidation (Throwing Objects at Vehicles) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (10:58): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935. Read a first time.

Second Reading

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (10:58): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Again, I will be brief. This bill is again a replica of a bill I brought into this place some 18 months ago—in fact, June 2018, more than 18 months ago—in response to what was then a significant increase in the amount of illegal throwing of rocks and other debris off bridges along the Southern Expressway. It is still fairly unclear what caused this spike in activity but at the time the government were very slow to act.

The police, of course, took it seriously. They instituted certain operations—Operation Watercolour—and they involved the use of mounted police, dog units and increased patrols along the Southern Expressway. However, at the time the government itself did very little in the way of action. In contrast, the Leader of the Opposition was very quick to release a plan to make people safer as they drove along the Southern Expressway.

I will go through the measures which were outlined by the Leader of the Opposition in June 2018. One was to declare the Southern Expressway a protective security area so that protective security officers can be deployed at the commissioner's discretion, to install temporary cyclone fencing in vulnerable areas, to install high-powered lighting in low-lit areas, to remove built-up vegetation, to increase rewards to $50,000 for the arrest and conviction of offenders, and the final measure was the bill we see before us, reintroduced today. It is an extremely simple bill. It increases the penalty for throwing rocks and debris at vehicles or potentially at vehicles on roadways, and that is an important distinction. It is simple but, I still think, necessary legislation.

I think the member for Heysen, in a contribution when the bill was last introduced, pointed out that there were already significant laws in place: attempted murder, for instance, or acts to harm in certain ways, and they reach varying levels of seriousness up to very, very serious, of course. The point of this bill, as I think I pointed out in the last parliament, was that it is pre-emptive. It makes it illegal to throw the rock whether there are vehicles present or not. It makes the simple throwing of the rock the offence.

The second point I would make—and I do not know if I made it in the last parliament but it has since come to my attention, and this is arguable—is that there is some evidence that increasing penalties in small ways does very little to alter people's criminal behaviour. I am not a criminologist but I am told that small penalty increases often do little to change behaviour. Significant penalty increases, however, are noticed by people and have been shown to significantly alter behaviour. This is a doubling of the penalty from five to 10 years. It makes the offence far more serious in the eyes of the courts, one would hope, and I think it is a sensible measure.

At the end of last year—on New Year's Eve, in fact, I was on the radio talking to Tony Pilkington about this—there was another significant spike in similar activity along the Southern Expressway. Thankfully, that did not amount to very much but it does highlight the need that these things will crop up from time to time, whether it is seasonal, whether there are more people about at certain times of the year. It is still unclear why there was a spike last time or, indeed, around New Year's Eve last year.

Nevertheless, I think this is a good measure. It is a simple measure. It could have been supported in June 2018. It has to be said that, while the government was slow in reacting, it did take certain measures along the Southern Expressway. More significant was the increased police presence, Operation Watercolour, and the associated police activity around Operation Watercolour, which very quickly stomped on this activity then. However, we do need a significant deterrent and I believe that this legislation provides that deterrent.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Pederick.