Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Graffiti vandalism is a criminal act. It does immense damage to the appearance of properties and infrastructure and can reduce the degree of pride and comfort that residents have in their own neighbourhoods. Today I want to talk briefly about the campaign of one of my constituents, Mr Peter Nardone, to reduce the capacity of aerosol cans—the favoured implement of graffiti vandals—to be used for this illicit purpose. Mr Nardone is one of those people who reached the end of their tether after his business premises were continuously vandalised with graffiti. He set his mind to thinking of ways to make it harder for people to use aerosol cans for that purpose. His solution is an invention which would prevent aerosol cans from being refilled and also prevent spray nozzles from being replaced with nozzles that better serve those intent on vandalising people’s property.

Normal spray nozzles on aerosol paint cans spray paint widely and in a fine mist, and obviously are not designed to be used for graffiti. But they can be easily replaced. I was shocked to learn that there is a thriving market in nozzles specifically designed for graffiti that can be easily purchased over the internet. Graffiti vandals simply remove the nozzles and replace them with the ones specifically tailored for their needs. You only have to do a quick Google search to find hundreds of suppliers. That is why Mr Nardone has been campaigning to Standards Australia to alter the standards for aerosol dispensers to ensure that, firstly, these products are incapable of being refilled and reused and, secondly, that the nozzles are tamperproof—in other words, they cannot be replaced with nozzles specifically designed for graffiti.

It has been something of a personal crusade by Mr Nardone to get action in this area. Unfortunately, his efforts have so far been unsuccessful. While Standards Australia has given him a hearing, it has not been prepared to change the standards in a way that would mandate this approach. There are always a million reasons not to do something, but my concern is that the greater good of reducing graffiti has been sidelined, particularly by Standards Australia. All levels of government must work together in tackling graffiti, and I urge the regulatory authorities and the federal government to ensure that their actions are helping rather than hindering the efforts of state and local authorities in deterring graffiti vandals.