Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Any amount of crime is too much, but Queensland's appalling record of having double the number of thefts per 100,000 people, compared to every other mainland state, is deeply concerning. The number of vehicle theft offenders per 100,000, according to the ABS, is three times higher than the mainland state average, at 52.4 compared to about 19. These extraordinary differences in the levels of vehicle related theft and theft in general demand that in Queensland we do something more—more than just looking into the problem or having a parliamentary inquiry. We've seen 33 deaths to motor vehicle related crime in the last 45 days. I ask the simple question: how much of it is illicit drug related? Are we assiduous in making sure that illicit drug testing occurs early in the journey and not only once a judge decides that it's a drug possession case or a case of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs? We need to introduce the intervention earlier. The recommendations by the Queensland Premier to include things like GPS tracking, metal detection and owner onus are all fine—we accept all of them—but they don't begin to touch the edge of the challenge. We need to do so much more. To list 'increased parental responsibility' or to say that serious indictable offences lose the bail presumption is just too little. We agree with it all, but we need to do so much more about illicit drugs if we're serious about reducing theft and related crime.

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