NATIONAL MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT REDUCTION COUNCIL

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (14:48): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police a question about the launch of the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council's new public education initiative, Secure by Design.

Leave granted.

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN: Statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and from South Australia Police show that in the past five years the incidence of motor vehicle theft in South Australia has fallen considerably. Will the minister provide some details of the recently launched National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council's new public education initiative Secure by Design that highlights the most advanced examples of improved vehicle security to counter car theft?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:49): I thank the honourable member for his incisive question. Motor vehicle theft imposes major costs on the community, and those costs are emotional, physical, psychological and financial. We must remember that motor vehicle theft is not just a property crime: it can at times present a very clear threat to public safety, and we have of course seen people killed by stolen vehicles.

In the past five years South Australia Police have performed an admirable job in reducing the incidence of theft and illegal use of motor vehicle offences. In the 2001-02 financial year the number of offences recorded in South Australia was 12,360. This fell to 8,574 in 2006-07, which is a reduction of more than 30 per cent over those five years. While this result is encouraging, a lot more work needs to be done to further reduce these types of offences.

SAPOL's Crime Reduction Section continues to work in partnership with organisations such as the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council and the South Australian Vehicle Theft Reduction Committee (SAVTRC) to prevent and reduce vehicle crime and its effects on the community. SAPOL has been proactive in directly targeting the scourge of motor vehicle theft by implementing a number of initiatives. These include:

subsidising engine immobilisers for tertiary and selected high school students;

fitting and providing immobilisers to low income earners and victims of vehicle crime;

providing the City of Salisbury with funding to promote immobilisation of older, more vulnerable vehicles;

using variable message signed trailers and advertising trailers in vehicle hot spot areas to educate the community and promote vehicle crime awareness;

using the media to educate the community;

producing and distributing various vehicle crime community education flyers and posters;

examining photographs of stolen vehicles that activate speed and red light cameras with the aim of identifying the driver or occupants and, if suitable, the photograph is displayed on the BankSA Crime Stoppers web page; and

erecting car safe signs at shopping precincts in South Australia encouraging motorists to lock their cars and not to leave valuables on display.

Another successful initiative is the Stop Car Theft Program. This program continues to be a useful crime reduction tool relating to motor vehicle crime by targeting locations and apprehending offenders. The Stop Car Theft Program uses vehicles fitted with engine immobilisers that are then deployed in areas affected by motor vehicle crime. These specially fitted vehicles are then covertly monitored by police. From 1 July 2006 to 1 June 2007, the Stop Car Theft Program resulted in the apprehension of 55 people and a total of 82 charges being laid.

One notable case involved the arrest of a man at the Blackwood Railway Station car park. Sturt police requested the deployment of the Stop Car Theft vehicle due to an increase in motor vehicle crime in the car park. The Stop Car Theft vehicle was deployed for only 20 minutes when a man broke into the car and attempted to drive off. He was arrested when the vehicle automatically shut down. This single arrest immediately reduced the incidence of motor vehicle crime at the Blackwood Railway Station car park.

Alongside the police, auto makers and designers also have a role to play in reducing the incidence of vehicle theft. Late last month I had the pleasure of announcing the winning vehicles ranked as Australia's most secure. Each of the 'winning' vehicles was expertly assessed against its market competitors in relation to the security of:

entry systems, such as door, ignition and fuel filler locks, rear seat/boot access and windows and windscreens;

theft resistance systems such as alarms, engine immobilisers, sound systems, wheel and component substitution protection; and

vehicle identification such as body stamping, security labelling and micro-dotting.

The winning vehicles highlighted the innovations that can be made to security systems, doors and windows to prevent and reduce car theft. It was also heartening that our own South Australian Mitsubishi 308 was ranked alongside prestigious European marques such as Audi and BMW. That is great news for the local industry and illustrates that Australian based car manufacturers can stand up and be counted against their European rivals in areas such as secure design.

The Volkswagen Polo 5-Door Hatch and the Citroen C2 3-Door Hatch were joint winners in the small car category. The Subaru Liberty 2.0R won in the medium car category, and South Australia's Mitsubishi 380 LX Sedan won in the large car category. In the compact SUV class, the winner was the BMW X3 3.0i 5-Door Wagon, and in the large SUV group the Audi Q7 5-Door Wagon. The Volkswagen Multivan was the winner in the people mover category, while the Volkswagen Caddy Cargo Van was the winner in the commercial vehicle category. I congratulate all the winners on the contribution they are making in the fight against motor vehicle theft in this country.