POLICE, IMPOUNDED VEHICLES

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (14:33): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Police a question regarding delegated authority.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: On Friday I was contacted by a constituent who owns a trucking company. One of their drivers had been pulled over by the police and was discovered to have drugs in his system. Pursuant to the Criminal Law (Clamping, Impounding and Forfeiture of Vehicles) Act, the vehicle was impounded.

The owner of the vehicle was not aware of his driver's actions and certainly did not condone them. Further to this, my constituent faced significant financial losses if the vehicle continued to be impounded and therefore applied to the police commissioner for the release of the vehicle pursuant to section 8(2)(a) of the act.

I understand that a SAPOL officer recommended that the vehicle be released based on the information above. However, the commissioner had delegated his authority to allow the release of vehicles to the Director of Business Operations in SAPOL. The director was not available until Monday, and the commissioner refused to authorise the release as he did not want to set a precedent for these matters. As a result, it seemed like the vehicle would continue to be impounded for the weekend at least. My questions to the minister are:

1. What is the point of the commissioner having this authority if he refuses to exercise the authority?

2. Why are there no contingency plans for these situations?

3. Will provisions be made for authorisation to be given in similar situations in the future?

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for Gambling) (14:35): I thank the Hon. Mr Darley for his questions. I will refer them to the Minister for Police in another place and bring back a response. I would make two points. One is that delegation is a very common part of our administering the law and, if it were not able to be done, I think that there would be a lot of laws which would become a lot more difficult—or almost unworkable—if individuals had to exercise all their powers individually on every occasion. Secondly, I would point out that, of course, the government does not direct the Commissioner of Police. He is independent. We trust the commissioner to know what is best in his administration and leadership of the police force. We do not tell him what to do on operational matters.