By Vanessa Chircop
HOBSONS Bay Councillor Angela Altair has called on the State Government to follow in the footsteps of the South Australian Government by introducing tougher anti-graffiti laws.
The new laws, which were announced this month, could see vandals lose their driver’s licence if caught defacing public or private property.
Cr Altair told last week’s council meeting she hoped the State Government would consider adopting similar penalties in Victoria.
As reported by Star in February, Hobsons Bay City Council spends more than $180,000 per year removing illegal graffiti from surfaces across the municipality.
Though graffiti affects the entire municipality, some of the smaller shopping centres such as Harrington Square and Laverton, are affected more often.
However Cr Altair said there had been a recent spate of graffiti tags in Williamstown as well, claiming the issue was only going to get worse if something is not done soon.
“I think this is a really good sanction – if you’re caught defacing a public building or private property, you can have your driving licence suspended or your L or P plates extended – I think that’s a terrific initiative,” she said.
South Australian Attorney-General John Rau, who announced the new laws, said they were the result of extensive consultation with the community.
“Graffiti vandalism causes great distress in the community: it costs businesses, individuals and government a great deal of time and money to clean it up, and it creates negative perceptions in areas targeted by vandals.”
The new laws will also see the maximum penalties for graffiti vandalism doubled to $5000 or imprisonment for 12 months.
