• A spate of electric motorbike attacks on local sporting clubs at Underwood Park has left locals vulnerable.
• Underwood Park Netball Association has been the target of two major vandalism incidents that resulted in significant damage.
• The local police beat remains unstaffed, despite a community petition with almost 2,000 signatures
  calling on the Government to properly resource local police beats.
• Member for Springwood, Mick de Brenni, is continuing to call on the Government to take action while
  parents, sports clubs, and ratepayers foot the bill for the impacts.

Local sporting clubs have been the subject of vandalism attacks perpetrated by groups of illegal electric
motorbike riders, and are now the subject of national media scrutiny.

It comes as the Crisafulli LNP Government continues to drag its feet in dealing with the problem of illegal
electric mobility devices, with the Parliamentary inquiry into e-mobility not due to be tabled until the end of
March.

Coupled with the lack of police resources in the local area, it has left local families and sporting clubs exposed to the dangerous consequences.

Member for Springwood Mick de Brenni said that the incidents were squarely due to lack of Government action, and that they would continue to happen until the Government acted.

“These incidents at Underwood Park occurred in broad daylight. The community here has been raising the alarm but it has been falling on deaf ears within the Crisafulli LNP Government,” he said.

The attacks have caused ongoing damage to the Underwood Park Netball Association’s courts and the BMX
facilities, costing locals significant time and money to rectify.

It comes after the club house had to be repainted due to a graffiti attack late last year.

Mr de Brenni said that the community has been raising concerns for more than a year, highlighting the fact that the local police beat has remained unstaffed for most of that time.

“I witnessed an attack in the middle of the day in December last year, and even after calling emergency services, no one responded,” Mr de Brenni said.

“These incidents are the types of incidents that crews at local police beats respond to.

“The police beat is still not staffed, despite almost 2,000 locals petitioning the Parliament to resource it properly.

“Meanwhile, the Premier Crisafulli is building a new police beat in an LNP electorate at Burleigh Heads, while we get left behind.”

Jonathan Milman, the principal petitioner of the petition that called on the Government to staff local police
beats, said the Government’s inaction is “disappointing” and “concerning”.

“This Government talked a big game about being tough on crime, yet they still sit on their hands when it comes to real action,” Milman said.

“They’ve been happy to pose in front of cameras and make announcements on the Gold Coast, but they’ve left communities like Springwood without the staffing that would actually help reduce these dangerous attacks that are becoming more and more frequent.”
Mr de Brenni said it’s time that the Government took things seriously because local families, volunteers, and
sports clubs deserved better.

“This Crisafulli LNP Government cannot drag their feet any longer.

“They must take these attacks seriously, they must take illegal e-mobility devices seriously, and to stop these
incidents, they must guarantee our local police resources.”

Media Contact: - Darcy Brown, Office of Mick de Brenni MP: 0429 612 005