A tradie has blasted the thief who stole copper wiring from a home he has been working on in Melbourne, explaining it’s the fifth time this year he’s had installed cable stolen from the job site.
Electrician Jay Kinnell is desperately trying to make a crust and do his bit to alleviate the housing crisis, and while he “completely wires” new homes, he regularly contends with delays due to thieves pulling out copper from half-finished homes in the middle of the night.
“Aircon guys get swamped, but electricians probably have it the worst because our cables are worth the most amount of money, and it’s the easiest thing to pull out of a house,” he told Yahoo News. The most recent incident occurred in Preston in the city’s northeast.
He explained that while the theft is usually covered by the builder’s insurance, he subsequently has to redo the work he once did and does so at a discounted rate to help out the builders who are impacted by the theft.
“We’re operating at a partial loss, but it definitely leaves us with a ‘breakeven’ repair,” he explained, saying he was “fed up” with how the illegal behaviour was having such a negative impact on the industry and tradies themselves.
Construction sites often targeted by copper thieves
Copper theft has increased nationwide in recent years, and construction sites are prime targets for thieves to steal from, as unsupervised materials are often left overnight.
Just last week, CCTV footage captured an offender with a box over his head stealing electrical copper wire and equipment worth around $40,000 from a construction site near Ballarat, Victoria.
Criminals have even dressed up as tradies (left) and caused major highways to plunge into darkness (right) as copper theft continues. Source: 9News & The Courier Mail
Last year, thieves were even caught on camera dressed as tradies while they scoured a construction site for copper in Queensland. Another tradie Mick lost $300 from a construction site after thieves ripped out piping from under a home in Coffs Harbour in New South Wales.
According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, the annual cost of metal theft is valued at well over $100 million, and in Queensland the crime has tripled since 2020.
Copper is commonly stolen from vacant homes, construction sites and road infrastructure such as piping and light poles. The issue has got so out of hand that major highways have even plunged into darkness as authorities were unable to replace stolen wiring quickly enough, with almost every state government grappling with the problem.
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