Hawker carjacking.

Given the cost of living in Canberra is amongst the highest in the country, how do these junkies and no-hopers afford to live here? Having moved to canberra recently and finding that rents are at criminally high rates (pardon the pun) and with electricity, fuel, etc going up almost daily in Australia, I have been really surprised to encounter this class of folks can afford to stay in Canberra. Is there something I am missing?

My ex had a dark Commodore sedan given to him by his sister because he’s the biggest sweetypie in the universe. Cute, too.

And my mum still has a white Commodore wagon, she’s a nice teacher who never did anything naughty apart from looking fantastic in a little skirt and pigtails.

So yeah there are non criminal Commodore drivers, they are just few and far between.

Gismondo said :

FFS I hate to swear on my first contribution to RiotAct but will posters please read the article properly – “About 11.40pm two men parked in Hawker Place” – the guy left the car running and keys in cause his mate was sitting there, we all do this when ducking into a shop or ATM. I assume his mate got out, no report of a kidnapping!

It doesn’t mention whether or not the mate was in the car? “Two men parked […] to use an ATM” could mean they both got out to get cash. If the mate was in the car, why did he get out? There’s no mention of anyone else being threatened or hurt.

The article doesn’t give all the details so we’re all guessing. No need to swear at all.

I don’t get why people let their engine run when parked in any situation actually. I never do it, not because I’m worried about car jacking necessarily but because I just don’t see any need for it. Unless you drive a car with a dodgy engine or battery and you are not sure if it will start again. Been there, done that on a couple of occasions. But my 10 year old car starts without any issues, so why would I let the engine run when I park?

Are there actually any Commodore drivers out there who aren’t criminals? Just wondering.

p1 said :

Brindabella said :

Oh, and Tony Abbott dropped by the other day at the IGA to talk about smokes.

There goes the neighbourhood….

+1 Time to sell up (if you can) and move somewhere classier, like Gungahlin.

FFS I hate to swear on my first contribution to RiotAct but will posters please read the article properly – “About 11.40pm two men parked in Hawker Place” – the guy left the car running and keys in cause his mate was sitting there, we all do this when ducking into a shop or ATM. I assume his mate got out, no report of a kidnapping!

Brindabella said :

Several shops and businesses were graffiti-ed a few weeks ago.

I noticed at Hawker the other day that the Empire was Striking Back though….

Brindabella said :

Oh, and Tony Abbott dropped by the other day at the IGA to talk about smokes.

There goes the neighbourhood….

One possible reason for him leaving it running is that, assuming it was a turbo Skyline, you need to leave them running for a little while after driving to cool the turbo down, especially if you’ve been giving it a good thrashing. (I don’t actually own a Skyline but that’s what I’ve heard, anyway)

“Turbo timers” are often used to keep the engine running after driving to do this without you being involved, but I believe those are illegal here.

I live, work and otherwise spend a lot of time in Hawker.

There are some shady types here, especially around the shops in the morning. Always the same people at the public telephones, and drinking beer in the morning in the common shop area. I’ve been approached for money just after withdrawing it from the ATMs. Rocksalt was burgled recently. Several shops and businesses were graffiti-ed a few weeks ago. A friend of mine was attacked walking through the walkway from the units down to the shops. A good kick in the nuts to the offender saved her from who-knows-what.

Oh, and Tony Abbott dropped by the other day at the IGA to talk about smokes.

Classified said :

PBO said :

TheDJPea said :

Really? Keys in the ignition? 11:40PM? In a junkie neighbourhood? F*** it, no witnesses come forward, a valuable lesson as been taught here, only time will tell if it has been learned.

What?!?! Check your facts mate. Hawker may have a varied demographic near the shops but it is in the top 20 suburbs in Australia.

Top 20 for what?

I probably should have checked this before my original question, but looking at the 2006 ABS census data, the suburb of Hawker seemed to rank 502nd (out of 8267 suburbs in Aus) with the Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage (a score the Govt sometimes tries to use to equate to the socioeconomic status of an area’s population. It is however an average and does not mean those with much higher or lower SES levels also live in that same suburb. In fact Hawker does have a wide range of IRSD scores: 962-1171, average index was 1106).
That score’s not bad Austwide, but there appear to be plenty of other subrubs in Canberra that were considered ‘higher’ in 2006, probably because they didn’t have a minimum score that low. For example Chapman’s range was 1104-1164 (average index score was 1145), ranking it the 56th highest IRSD suburb in Aus (in 2006). Thrilling stuff, but not really applicable at the individual level.
Lets just say it seems to agree with what poeple have mentioned here: there are lots of well off people in Hawker, and some not so well off.

PBO said :

TheDJPea said :

Really? Keys in the ignition? 11:40PM? In a junkie neighbourhood? F*** it, no witnesses come forward, a valuable lesson as been taught here, only time will tell if it has been learned.

What?!?! Check your facts mate. Hawker may have a varied demographic near the shops but it is in the top 20 suburbs in Australia.

Top 20 for what?

Last year Hawker was my local shops, until I moved to Belconnen. I remember sitting in the carpark outside the IGA one afternoon waiting for someone, when I saw a very thin, mid-twenties woman riding a bicycle through the carpark. She stopped at every car window on the driver’s side; either she was checking for unlocked doors or coins or phones left exposed inside. I took out my phone to call the police, but she spotted me and peddled off back up to the flats. I haven’t had any real problem in that area, but there are certainly people to watch out for.

Have they found the car?

Also… leaving keys in the ignition? Who does that (at night and on a street and especially when there’s a white Commodore parked in front of you)?

TheDJPea said :

There’s some very nice houses in Hawker, but right next to the shops are junkie flats.

Hence the soccer club gets rolled monthly. “Junkie Lower Hawker”

TheDJPea said :

Really? Keys in the ignition? 11:40PM? In a junkie neighbourhood? F*** it, no witnesses come forward, a valuable lesson as been taught here, only time will tell if it has been learned.

What?!?! Check your facts mate. Hawker may have a varied demographic near the shops but it is in the top 20 suburbs in Australia.

dpm said :

Also, I thought Hawker was supposed to be a good suburb? Junkie neighbourhood?

Most of Hawker is pretty expensive, big houses. But the area immediately adjacent to the shops is full of some pretty dodgy flats.

had the keys in the ignition and engine running.

I know Canberra is a sister city to Nara, but that doesn’t mean you can act as if you live in Japan!

dpm said :

Also, I thought Hawker was supposed to be a good suburb? Junkie neighbourhood?

There’s some very nice houses in Hawker, but right next to the shops are junkie flats. Either way, no one should leave their keys in the ignition, it’s common sense. Since when have all complete strangers been trustworthy? Especially those loitering around suburban shops at 11:40PM

All that detail about the individuals, unfortunately no licence plate number. If at least one of the two victims involved had focused on only getting that, they’d probably have caught them by now… (assuming, in this case, most crims don’t sit around the shops in a stolen car)
If there’s one thing i’ve learnt from reading RA’s police report postings in the last year or so it’s:
Get The Licence Plate Number first, other details next!

Also, I thought Hawker was supposed to be a good suburb? Junkie neighbourhood?

Really? Keys in the ignition? 11:40PM? In a junkie neighbourhood? F*** it, no witnesses come forward, a valuable lesson as been taught here, only time will tell if it has been learned.

Also how come there is only one persons skin colour mentioned, the 3rd offender has been basically described as a fat prick with an annoying accent, so I figure it’s not to spare their feelings