Page 1878 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 5 May 2009
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abandoned vehicle. It also introduces a penalty if a person who is not the registered owner receives the notification letter but does not provide information about the registered owner. The bill sets out the information that must be provided on these notices and in the letter. My amendment simply requires that the information on the notice and in the letter must also point out to people these new penalties.
MS BURCH (Brindabella) (11.21): Legislation that provides a mechanism to ensure that public places are not compromised by people using them to dump abandoned vehicles is something that should be supported. Providing the city rangers with a mechanism to rapidly deliver notification of a potentially abandoned vehicle will hasten the process of attending to these abandoned vehicles.
This bill introduces the use of prominent notices to be placed on the vehicles to inform the owner of the action that city rangers will be taking in respect of that vehicle. The use of a notice stuck on the car will do more than just inform the owner of the vehicle of the government’s intentions; it will also inform the neighbourhood of the government’s intentions in regard to that vehicle.
Providing notification by way of a notice being put on the windscreen of the vehicle will reduce the time that a vehicle is required to be left in place before it can be removed. This regime has been effectively used in a number of councils throughout Australia, such as the Greater Dandenong Council in Victoria and the City of Swan in Western Australia.
Having such a mechanism in place to inform the neighbourhood of the actions that will be taken will provide reassurance to the residents that something will be done. If there is not a notice on the car, then members of the public will know that this vehicle has not yet been reported to the city rangers.
I would like to take this opportunity to encourage any Canberran to contact Canberra Connect regarding any vehicle that they believe to have been abandoned. It is imperative that these vehicles are reported to Canberra Connect to ensure that the city rangers are aware of their location. This will allow for notice to be provided and for the vehicle to be removed.
Canberra Connect provides an appropriate venue for complaints and will ensure that the vehicle receives the attention of city rangers. It should never be assumed that the government knows that vehicles have been abandoned. The citizens of Canberra need to be our eyes and ears. People need to be involved and let Canberra Connect know where abandoned vehicles are.
Unattended vehicles left for a period of time can also attract unwanted attention from vandals and thieves. I am advised that there were approximately 1,300 potentially abandoned vehicles reported to TAMS last financial year. Of those 1,300 reported vehicles, 250 vehicles were impounded, with only 19 vehicles being claimed by their owners. The rest were sent for scrapping as they were of low value. I am further informed that, of the vehicles that were not retrieved by their owners, many received additional damage after they came to the attention of the department but before they could be legally moved. It is important to have these vehicles removed as quickly as possible.
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