A primary school in Perth has been left without water after copper thieves stole newly laid pipes amid a spate of nationwide South Africa-style scrap metal thefts.
Students at Sawyers Valley Primary School in the Perth Hills were unable to use toilets or drinking fountains, and the air conditioning system also needed to be shut down on Tuesday due to the theft, which occurred during the night.
Families were informed by text message in the morning and the school remained open, with most parents keeping their children at home while others had no choice but to take them to school.
One furious mother told 9News her seven-year-old daughter ended up being one of just three students left in her class.
“They’ve got no toilets, no handwashing facilities, no aircon, it’s fairly hot today, it’s pretty ridiculous” another irritated mum said.
Local MP Adam Hort called the theft “absolutely heartless”, while upset locals blamed the theft on a breakdown in social cohesion and the “cost of living crisis under Labor”.
The Western Australian government allocated $12 million in this year’s budget to replace stolen street light cables, and last month Main Roads WA said almost 1,500km of wiring had been stolen, taking out 100km of street lighting and 30km of pedestrian and cycle path lighting.
The incident came just hours after an entire shopping centre in Queensland was shut down on Monday night when brazen thieves stole 200 metres of copper wiring.
Shops at Town Square Redbank Plains in Ipswich, south of Brisbane, were forced to close, and food retailers lost stock due to the extended power outage, news.com.au reported.
Copper theft in Queensland has been costing state-owned electricity distribution operators about $4.5 million every year – prompting them to replace thousands of kilometres in underground and overhead copper cabling across the state’s southeast with less valuable aluminium.
Last month residents in multiple Melbourne suburbs were left without water after thieves stole copper water meters, and locals said it had become a major issue.
Thieves also targeted Tesla superchargers in Ballarat in September, train lines into Melbourne were shut down due to stolen cables, and authorities said they suspected a bronze statue of explorer Matthew Flinders was stolen from Mornington to be sold as scrap metal.
Header image: The scene of the copper pipe thefts (9News).
