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22103 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Wednesday 5 April 2006 ______ Mr Speaker (The Hon. John Joseph Aquilina) took the chair at 10.00 a.m. Mr Speaker offered the Prayer. Mr SPEAKER: I acknowledge the Gadigal clan of the Eora nation and their elders and thank them for the custodianship of this land. CRIMES AMENDMENT (ORGANISED CAR AND BOAT THEFT) BILL Second Reading Debate resumed from 28 March 2006. Mr CHRIS HARTCHER (Gosford) [10.00 a.m.]: The Coalition does not oppose the passage of the Crimes Amendment (Organised Car and Boat Theft) Bill. I was interested to hear from the Parliamentary Secretary's second reading speech that it is estimated that $100 million annually is lost to the State of New South Wales as a result of car rebirthing activities, and that in 2005 some 8,600 stolen cars were suspected by police of being further used by thieves, on an organised basis, for rebirthing purposes. The legislation is aimed at the organised crime gangs that operate in stealing cars, breaking them down, using their parts to build entirely new cars, and selling them back to unsuspecting members of the community on the used car market. The bill creates a number of offences, which have been dealt with by the Parliamentary Secretary in the second reading speech so I do not intend to canvass them. I note that the second reading speech made no reference to a police task force, or to a request by police arising from deficiencies in a police task force or from matters uncovered by a task force that have necessitated this legislation. Far be it for me to query why the legislation has been introduced. It is obviously legislation that NSW Police regard as necessary. Therefore, if it is regarded by police—the people entrusted by the community with the task of fighting organised crime and the rebirthing rackets—as being necessary, obviously it should be supported by Parliament. In recent times considerable attention has been given to the fact that organised gangs are operating in car rebirthing. One would like to know—it is not set out in the second reading speech—what success police have had in breaking up these gangs, the number of charges that have been brought in respect of gangs operating rebirthing activities, and what has been the success rate in securing convictions as a result of charges brought. One would also like to know whether there were judicial comments, or findings or determinations by the Director of Public Prosecutions [DPP], as the prosecuting authority, that there was not a sufficient case under existing law to prosecute certain people and therefore these new statutory offences have to be created. Parliament is entitled to know the genesis of the offences created by the bill. There must have been either a report by the DPP or comments by a court or police that led to these offences being created and the bill being presented to Parliament. Clearly, in many respects the Government has failed with regard to organised crime. For example, it has failed with respect to gangs that operate and prey upon ethnic communities. It is argued, at least in the media—I do not have data on the matter other than in media reports—that the gangs that operate within certain ethnic groups have been prominent in car rebirthing, which itself is a matter of great concern. One would also like to know from the Government the areas in which cars have been most significantly stolen for rebirthing purposes. Are certain areas of the State at greater risk than others? Is car theft simply spread right across the board, relating to individual impulse? Is car theft taking place on an organised basis in certain areas? It is appropriate that Parliament and the community be kept informed of these matters. Clearly, the Government's failure to inform on these matters indicates a deficiency in its presentation of the bill to Parliament. The shadow Minister for Police in the Legislative Council, the Hon. Michael Gallacher, in his former life as a serving New South Wales police officer, was involved in breaking up car rebirthing rackets. At that time he was involved in making arrests as part of a task force, as well as in investigating, detecting and 22104 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 5 April 2006 apprehending people who had been involved in car rebirthing. I am sure that in the Legislative Council he will raise issues regarding the genesis of the legislation and the present situation in New South Wales in relation to arrests, charging and convictions. Mr SPEAKER: That is because of the extraordinary teachers he had when he was at school. Mr CHRIS HARTCHER: He did, at Shalvey, where you, Mr Speaker, were a distinguished teacher in the English department. That is why the Hon. Michael Gallacher's command of English literature is so pronounced. The Government has an obligation to present more information to Parliament and to ensure that the community is better informed about what is an ongoing and serious crime problem. With those remarks, I reiterate that the Coalition will not oppose or seek to amend this legislation. Mr BARRY COLLIER (Miranda) [10.09 a.m.]: I am pleased to support the Crimes Amendment (Organised Car and Boat Theft) Bill. The bill amends the Crimes Act to create several new offences relating to the theft of motor vehicles and vessels, including an offence of facilitating an organised car or boat rebirthing activity; repeals and re-enacts the offence of car stealing, so that it extends to vessels; extends other existing offences relating to stolen motor vehicles or vehicle parts to stolen vessels or vessel parts; and makes other consequential and ancillary amendments. This is an extremely important bill. It is estimated that rebirthing activities cost New South Wales taxpayers in the order of $100 million each year. Organised motor vehicle theft—often referred to as car rebirthing—in many cases is the first and essential step in that process. Car rebirthing involves a series of steps, using either stolen cars or stolen car parts, with the intention of producing a vehicle that can then be registered with the Roads and Traffic Authority or other authorities as a legitimate vehicle. Counteracting this form of crime requires special legislation targeting steps preparatory to fraudulent re-registration. These steps can be a number of links in the chain removed from the actual end product of a rebirthed car. They are not easily caught by the general dishonesty offences, such as obtaining benefit by deception, or making or using false instruments with the intent that they may be used to someone else's detriment. Organised motor vehicle crime is a compartmentalised activity. The person who, for example, attaches a fraudulently manufactured vehicle identification number plate—or VIN plate—to a rebirthed car usually will not be the person who sells the rebirthed car to another person or presents it for registration at the RTA or other authority. Those who attempt to register the rebirthed car may not have committed the original theft and may not easily be traced to subsequent steps in the rebirthing process. The bill creates a principal offence of knowingly facilitating organised car or boat rebirthing activities, and the offence carries a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment. Simply stealing cars or having stolen car parts in one's possession is not enough to prove the offence. There must be some substantial level of organisation between two or more persons, with the intent of performing some stage in the rebirthing process, before a person can be convicted of this offence. The bill also creates four offences relating to the misuse of "unique identifiers". Unique identifiers are markings, letters, numbers or anything that enables a car or car parts to be identified. It includes the vehicle identification number, the engine block number and the like. The four offences I speak about are: dishonestly interfere with a unique identifier; dishonestly make a purported unique identifier; possession of a motor vehicle or part with intent to dishonestly alter a unique identifier; and knowingly induce another person to accept a false unique identifier as genuine. Each of those offences will carry a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment. The bill also creates two offences relating to the possession of unique identifiers and vehicle identification plates. The first is knowingly possess a vehicle identification plate unattached to a motor vehicle without reasonable excuse, and the second is dishonestly possessing a car or car part that has an altered unique identifier. Those offences will carry a lower penalty of five years imprisonment, no doubt because they are what are known as preparatory offences. Most of these offences are extended to boats and other vessels. In addition, offences of take and drive motor vehicle without consent, carjacking and the like, will be extended to include vessels. Coming from the Sutherland shire, with its magnificent waterways, I appreciate that vessels are an important part of the shire's leisure activities. It is interesting that these provisions are being extended to vessels, or boats if one likes. One of those amendments is to section 154C of the Crimes Act. The current section, which deals with an offence known as car-jacking, involves taking or driving a motor vehicle when a person is in it or on it, and carries a penalty of 10 years imprisonment, or 14 years in circumstances of aggravation. Schedule 1 extends this offence to conduct involving the taking of a vessel as defined in the Marine Safety Act. 5 April 2006 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 22105 Another important provision is section 188 of the Crimes Act and also in section 527C of that Act.