Crime roars

By Ed Merrison
SOCIAL support services have de-clared they are not at all surprised to learn rising petrol prices appear to be fuelling crime in Cranbourne and its surrounds.
In the wake of alarming figures on petrol drive-offs and stolen number plates released by Victoria Police on Monday, Cranbourne Information and Support Service (CISS) manager Leanne Petrides said people had suggested to her that they may have to resort to crime to run their cars.
“While I would never condone crime, the figures don’t surprise me. A portion of our community has felt driven to commit those crimes because of high petrol prices,” she said.
Most people using the CISS wouldn’t dream of turning to crime, but were ordinary people trying to keep their heads above water and feed their families, she said.
Ms Petrides said she had come across families going to potentially dangerous lengths as they desperately tried to juggle budgeting priorities.
“In some cases they are scrimping on essential items like food and utilities in order to put petrol in their cars,” she said.
Reverend Paul Creasey, from the Cranbourne Regional Uniting Church, said Cranbourne residents had been lobbed with a triple whammy, with the interest rate rise, petrol price rises and the IR laws, which made it very tough on people.
Rev Creasey said the rate of petrol drive-offs and number plate thefts was hardly surprising. “When people are doing it hard, desperate times call for desperate measures. People do become desperate. My work has risen by a third in the last month and I can only attribute that to the rise in petrol prices,” he said.
Rev Creasey said many people had expressed to him their concerns about how they were going to make ends meet.
“It’s pretty sad, actually. When people really deserve a better go, they are struggling. It’s not a lack of goodwill or a lack of trying,” he said.
The Victoria Police data showed that while recorded crime for the state was down, there had been a staggering 41.6 per cent rise in petrol drive-off offences.
Related to the petrol drive-offs was a significant increase in the theft of number plates.
There has been a 2.5 per cent increase in the rate of theft from motor vehicles, which Victoria Police said was largely due to a 31.9 per cent increase in stolen plates.
Broken down by geographical area, the statistics suggest that Region 5, which includes Casey, have higher than average rates of petrol-related crime.
Victoria Police Region 5 Assistant Commissioner Paul Evans said the results were clearly linked to the financial means of families in and around Casey and the distances they had to drive. “People generally have to drive fairly solid distances and they can’t afford to run their cars,” he said.
Cranbourne Salvation Army community support services manager Hennie Watts also said the petrol situation had become desperate for some people.
Ms Watts said it did not surprise her at all that the stress caused by petrol prices was leading some to turn to crime.
“We have people who won’t even go to the doctor because they can’t afford to go to the chemist for their medication,” she said.