Record-High Car Thefts Calls For Crackdown On Youth Crime

The State Government faces more pressure to crack down on youth crime after data found about half of the vehicles stole in Queensland in the last financial year were by youth offenders.

More than 19,000 cars were stolen across Queensland last year, with December seeing the most thefts in the state’s history – 2,133.

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The highest monthly high was previously 1,834 cars stolen in March 2001.

According to the Children’s Court Serious Repeat Offender Index, 17 oer cent of youth offenders (568 children) were responsible for nearly half the car thefts committed in the 2021-22 financial year.

Liberal leader David Crisafulli blamed the state’s “watered-down laws” for the rise in thefts, blasting the laws for raising “a generation of young criminals running rife across Queensland”.

“Queenslanders everywhere are paying a high price for the State Government’s soft laws because we’re now seeing the cost of car insurance jump in line with the number of cars stolen across our communities,” Mr Crisafulli said.

A Queensland Police spokesman told the Courier they were working hard to combat the increase and had arrested more than 2,100 offenders on 4,500 charges since mid-December.

“The co-ordinated operation is focusing on preventing and disrupting crime with thousands of patrols of residential and business areas, bail compliance checks and a range of other engagement activities,” the spokesman said.

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