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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-16 Daily Xml
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MOTOR VEHICLES (VEHICLE IMMOBILISERS) AMENDMENT BILL

Introduction and First Reading

Mr HANNA (Mitchell) (11:26): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Motor Vehicles Act 1959. Read a first time.

Second Reading

Mr HANNA (Mitchell) (11:27): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

On 11 August 2008, I attended a vehicle theft awareness seminar in Adelaide, and I commend the South Australian Vehicle Theft Reduction Committee for hosting this event. I also commend Mr Allan Bewley of the Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure for his role in pulling it together. I learned some startling facts. I learned that 1.5 of all car crashes come from stolen car incidents, and two-thirds of casualties come from stolen car events. There is a cost to each car crash estimated at $52,000 per crash in terms of property loss, health care, police involvement, court involvement and so on. I learned that, where immobilisers are fitted to cars, they are almost never stolen unless the thief has the keys to the car. Western Australia has a scheme whereby purchased vehicles, particularly older used vehicles, need to have an immobiliser fitted before they can be registered. I propose such a scheme for South Australia.

We need to bear in mind that Australia has one of the highest motor vehicle theft rates in the western world. Indeed, three out of four vehicles stolen in Australia are older cars, and that is why we need to introduce a scheme whereby they can be sold and registered only when an immobiliser is fitted. The cost of fitting an immobiliser, of course, would be a concern, but these are readily available for $200 or $300. There is a benefit not only to the purchaser but also the broader society because of the costs of car theft.

What I propose is endorsed by the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council. That is a body which is a joint initiative of Australian governments and the insurance industry. There are representatives from motor manufacturers, the Motor Trades Association and the Attorney-General's Department of Australia on that committee.

Please note that I have exemptions contained in this proposal for trucks and motor vehicles over 25 years of age. Given that most cars manufactured in the last 10 to 15 years come with immobilisers, it is likely that we are really talking about 1970s and 1980s models that would be covered by this proposal.

I expect support in high places for this proposal because, just after the seminar to which I referred, the honourable Attorney-General of South Australia put out a press release pointing out some of the statistics about car thefts. He was reported in The Advertiser as saying, 'Immobilisers made would-be car thieves think twice.' I can do no better than to quote from Mr Ray Carroll, executive director of the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council. Once I had put this proposal to him he wrote to me, on behalf of the council, saying:

Thank you for your notification of your proposed bill to make fitment of an immobilizer a requirement of transfer of ownership of a used vehicle in South Australia. As a matter of policy the NMVTRC has long supported the concept of retrofitting of immobilizers as a means of more quickly addressing the theft of older vehicles.

Debate adjourned.

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