Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / The Motor Trade Association’s Kaes Cillessen says almost half of the automotive business in the NT that took part in a survey said they’ve been victims of theft in the last 12 months

Transcript

The Motor Trade Association’s Kaes Cillessen says almost half of the automotive business in the NT that took part in a survey said they’ve been victims of theft in the last 12 months · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: We know that it is being reported there's automotive businesses
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  Speaker 1: across the Northern Territory are experiencing high levels of theft
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  Speaker 1: and vandalism, according to a new survey which has been
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  Speaker 1: conducted by the Motor Trade Association. Now joining me on
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  Speaker 1: the line to tell us more is Case Cillizen from
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  Speaker 1: the Motor Trade Association. Good morning to you, Case.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie. Good to be back with you.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so good to have you on the show case.
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  Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit more about this survey.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah great. We heard some initially some anecdotal reports from
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  Speaker 2: members that there was a higher than usual levels of
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  Speaker 2: properties that are occurring with their businesses, and particularly with
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  Speaker 2: regards to Toyda Land Cruise or troop carriers. It was
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  Speaker 2: becoming quite a concern that we decided to go out
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  Speaker 2: to our membership and non members too the industry more
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  Speaker 2: broadly to see exactly what was going on. And concerningly,
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  Speaker 2: we learned that more than half of the survey respondents
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  Speaker 2: reported that they had either property damage or vandalism in
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  Speaker 2: the past twelve months. So that's forty seven percent that
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  Speaker 2: have been reported as being a victim of theft.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, I mean that's a large number, that forty seven percent. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: so you're able to tell us how many people took
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  Speaker 1: part in that survey.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we think it's about roughly in terms of the
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  Speaker 2: overall market, particularly of dealerships, about thirty percent of the market.
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  Speaker 2: So as we said, we sort of did members and
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  Speaker 2: non members. So talking about thirty to forty dealerships across
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  Speaker 2: not just Darwin but also Alice Springs and the rest
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  Speaker 2: of the territory.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, I mean that's a significant number that have then
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  Speaker 1: are then saying that they've been victims of crime.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, And look, you know, when we talk to our members,
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  Speaker 2: they're telling us, look, at what point do we say
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  Speaker 2: is enough is enough? And that we don't deserve to
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  Speaker 2: put up with this. I think territories work really hard
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  Speaker 2: to make a livelihood and putting up with these challenges
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  Speaker 2: is just an unnecessary cost of doing business. Obviously, with
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  Speaker 2: inflation fuel costs, there are lots of precious businesses and
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  Speaker 2: to lose a really high value item like a Toyda
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  Speaker 2: land Cruiser, which are worth a lot of money, is
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  Speaker 2: really concerning for them.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, you know, a little while back, we've had
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  Speaker 1: an altern territory police on the show and they had
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  Speaker 1: said to us that, you know, we were in a
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  Speaker 1: situation where some of the was more the older models
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  Speaker 1: of the Toyota land Cruiser troopies, also your high Luck
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  Speaker 1: shoots and some of those older models that were being
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  Speaker 1: stolen at the time. You know, we'd had the police
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  Speaker 1: say that if your vehicle was going to be parked
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  Speaker 1: for a long period of time, to have a steering
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  Speaker 1: lock on it, to even disconnect the battery. But I'm
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  Speaker 1: assuming that in these car dealerships like that's not really
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  Speaker 1: an option.
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  Speaker 2: Look, there are a lot of things that people can do,
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  Speaker 2: but I think what we're hearing from members is that
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  Speaker 2: they're trying absolutely everything that they can do. We're talking about,
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  Speaker 2: you know well and truly break ins on the premise,
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  Speaker 2: and there are sophisticated ways to get around a number
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  Speaker 2: of different prevention methods. There are no full proof methods,
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  Speaker 2: and obviously it becomes quite frustrated for them. I think
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  Speaker 2: in terms of with police, we're looking forward to continuing
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  Speaker 2: to work with them and the government on this. I
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  Speaker 2: think one of the other parts of the survey was
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  Speaker 2: that there was not a very high satisfaction rate in
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  Speaker 2: terms of the police response from our members. It's an
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  Speaker 2: area for improvement and I think one that we can
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  Speaker 2: continue to work together on.
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  Speaker 1: Case tell us with the vehicles that were being stolen,
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  Speaker 1: like we're talking about new cars, aren't we or are
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  Speaker 1: we talking about some used vehicles?
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  Speaker 2: A mixture of both. But look, it's fair to say
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  Speaker 2: that one of the common themes was indeed the Toyda
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  Speaker 2: land cruise or troop carriers. They can fit a lot
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  Speaker 2: of people in them, obviously, got a lot off road capabilities,
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  Speaker 2: and it's also just worth a lot of money as well.
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  Speaker 1: Now tell me what else you found in this survey,
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  Speaker 1: because I'm assuming it's not the only sort of question
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  Speaker 1: that was asked.
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  Speaker 2: Those were the headline ones. Obviously we talked about property
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  Speaker 2: damage and vandalism. Half of respondents theft. Obviously that was
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  Speaker 2: one of the ones that brought it to our attention
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  Speaker 2: in terms of particularly the Toyda land cruisers, but that
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  Speaker 2: was half of respondents, and also we were keen to
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  Speaker 2: know from them. Obviously they're doing the right thing in
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  Speaker 2: terms of following up with police, and you know, while
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  Speaker 2: police are doing what they can, there had been some
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  Speaker 2: concerns around response times, particularly where in some instances I've
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  Speaker 2: heard of one instance in particular where a vehicle has
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  Speaker 2: been located in as a matter of collecting that vehicle
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  Speaker 2: and getting the police assistance in that response and really
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  Speaker 2: just not meeting that expectation from the business member and.
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  Speaker 1: That instance is it hard as well? You know then
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  Speaker 1: for those car dealerships when you talk about sort of insurance,
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  Speaker 1: if this type of thing is happening more regularly.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, And insurance is not just about the fact
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  Speaker 2: that you've got it. It is there and our members
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  Speaker 2: and businesses will take out insurance. Obviously, there are premiums
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  Speaker 2: to consider, and there's out of pocket expenses while you
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  Speaker 2: go through claims processes, and you know, obviously that's why
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  Speaker 2: I think it's an important part in terms of the
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  Speaker 2: interface with police, getting those reports, in having that to
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  Speaker 2: deal with the insurers as well. So look, it is there.
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  Speaker 2: But when you're talk talking about big out of pocket
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  Speaker 2: expenses and particularly you know, for example, deliveries for a
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  Speaker 2: customer and sales, whether that could be compromised, it is
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  Speaker 2: really concerning for those businesses case.
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  Speaker 1: You know, the Minor Trade Association is a big association
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  Speaker 1: that represents people from right around the nation. Have you
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  Speaker 1: been in a situation. Before we've sort of had to
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  Speaker 1: do a survey around crime and had a response like this.
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  Speaker 2: This is really probably the first we've done particularly on crime.
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  Speaker 2: We know it's been an emerging emerging, but it's been
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  Speaker 2: an issue which has received a lot of attention recently
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  Speaker 2: for us and our members, you know, the touch points
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  Speaker 2: in which they are being affected by this, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: we say I talk about interface and working together with police.
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  Speaker 2: It is a community problem. We do need to work
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  Speaker 2: through all the different parts of that in terms of
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  Speaker 2: education and support, in terms of the justice system. So
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  Speaker 2: for us, it is the first survey of its kind
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  Speaker 2: that we've done. We do do a number of other
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  Speaker 2: surveys and we have data on all number of things
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  Speaker 2: to do with the automotive industry, but certainly in the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory, if you're talking to dealerships in Darwin, Alice
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  Speaker 2: Springs or the rest of the territory, it is an
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  Speaker 2: issue that they're really concerned about at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I guess it's something that we hear
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  Speaker 1: about all the time on this show. So to me,
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  Speaker 1: it's not a huge surprise, you know. But the thing
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  Speaker 1: that is really quite fascinating is that the Motive Trade
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  Speaker 1: Association for you guys and for those those dealerships, that
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  Speaker 1: it is such a big issue and it is obviously
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  Speaker 1: a real concern for them.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, I think I'll come back to it at the
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  Speaker 2: end of the day. These are hard working territories are
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  Speaker 2: really just trying to make a living and obviously service
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  Speaker 2: their customers and their local communities. It really is frustrating
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  Speaker 2: when they have things like this happened to them and
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  Speaker 2: we I think we can do better and I think
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  Speaker 2: we can all agree that the survey and that the
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  Speaker 2: data that shows that there's more to be done in
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  Speaker 2: this space.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Case Sillisen from the Motive Trade Association, I really
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  Speaker 1: appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much for having a.
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  Speaker 2: Chat with me anytime. Thank you, Katie, thank you