Aussie roads dark for months as sinister $100 million trend escalates
It's an illegal, dangerous and growing trend right across Australia, and now copper theft has even left streets without lights in the country's west after opportunists stripped several major thoroughfares dry.
A "lucrative and attractive venture for thieves", metal theft, and in particular stealing copper, has increased in prevalence in recent years, according to police. Authorities have warned those responsible for selling items like cables to scrap metal dealers, who melt and reshape them for use in electronics.
They say not only is the act costly and inconvenient to energy providers and new homeowners, it's also extremely unsafe, with tradies often left to pick up the pieces after criminals rob worksites.
In WA, roads in Rockingham, Kwinana and Mandurah have been left in the dark after thieves targeted streetlights.
The lights have remained out for months along stretches of the Kwinana Freeway — including the Thomas Road, Safety Bay Road and Karnup Road off-ramps — as well as throughout Rockingham, in Ravenswood, and along Old Coast Road from Falcon to Dawesville, following a spate of cable thefts, according to local publications.
According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, the federal government has estimated the annual cost of metal theft is valued at well over $100 million, with criminals frequently targeting worksites, new home builds, railway lines, electricity substations, sewerage works, hospitals and even schools.
In WA, the state's Main Roads department agreed. It said locally, the figure had soared into the millions.
In some cases, scrap dealers offer up to $6 per kilo for pure copper, $7 per kilo for mixed copper, and $2 per kilo for copper wire. Only gold and platinum fetch higher prices, trading for as much as $50 per gram.
Main Roads confirmed that copper cable theft is a growing concern, with a spokesperson stating the agency is working closely with WA Police and other authorities to "mitigate the impacts and prosecute those illegally accessing vital public infrastructure, including assisting with the identification of stolen Main Roads cable when recovered."
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"As a result of copper cable theft, there are currently lighting outages across the road and path network, and Main Roads is working to restore these as soon as possible," the spokesperson told Sound Telegraph.
In December, the department revealed a shocking 800,000 metres of cable had been stolen over the past five or six years. It's estimated that some $3 million worth of replacement cable is required per year.
Copper theft isn't just a problem in WA, though, with reports of thefts increasing in all regions of Australia and overseas.
Last year, Yahoo News spoke with a tradie who was stunned to discover copper had been stolen from a property left vacant for a few weeks between tenants. Local plumber and bathroom specialist Mick was told the house he was heading to in Coffs Harbour, NSW, had "no water" inside the home, yet the new tenants moving in could hear the sound of liquid "p**sing out" from somewhere under the house.
After turning on the water, Mick noticed that it was "shooting straight up" from the ground under the house. Investigating its source, he found a "little copper pipe" sticking out that looked as though it had been "ripped off". The pipe should have been supplying the entire house with water.
In Queensland, where the crime is particularly prevalent, thieves cost the state a whopping $4.5 million in damages to the electrical network in 2023 alone, with culprits even reportedly dressing a tradies to avoid detection while they make away with live wires.
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