Is this looting?

[mary&mat]

Hi all,

Watched the flood footage (again) last night showing all the debris washed up in I think Moreton Bay.

There were various household items, chairs, toys etc & people were down there picking it all over & taking/salvaging things. The cops were reportedly stopping this from happenning.

So, is this looting?

I imagine it would be horrid watching someone picking up your chest of drawers or some of your lounge suite & walking off with them. But what if these people also have nothing? How would you prove it was yours if you went down there to try to retrieve some of it?

 

[andrew_de_a]

If it's not your property then it's looting.

 

[DEC]

I imagine it would be horrid watching someone picking up your chest of drawers or some of your lounge suite & walking off with them.

If it was a lounge or a chest of drawers, floating down the river, I would say they were collecting rubbish and would leave them to it.

If they were grabbing someone's boat and buggering off with that I would call that looting.

But if it was a large boat or pontoon that they grabbed and secured, so as to prevent it being smashed and further damaging other property I say that is ok.

 

[rugrat]

It is theft. If it doesn't belong to you, then it is not yours and you have no right to it - simple as that. Now, some people will go out looking for theiir own possessions. Many of the posessions will end up at the tip or lost forever. But the basic premise still stands - you shouldn't be taking anything that doesn't belong to you: because it does belong to someone else. (it isn't like they 'threw' this stuff away - it has been taken from them by the flood waters).

 

[mary&mat]

I agree with what everyone's said here. I could never do it as it would just be in too bad taste.

 

[DEC]

It is theft. If it doesn't belong to you, then it is not yours and you have no right to it - simple as that. Now, some people will go out looking for theiir own possessions. Many of the posessions will end up at the tip or lost forever. But the basic premise still stands - you shouldn't be taking anything that doesn't belong to you: because it does belong to someone else. (it isn't like they 'threw' this stuff away - it has been taken from them by the flood waters).

Perhaps, but having seen what it mostly getting washed out it is junked, waterlogged rubbish.

A lounge that is full of mud and water, chipboard frame swelling is not salvageable
A mattress that is full of mud and water, is not salvageable.
A TV that is full of mud and water, is not salvageable.
Fridge floating down the river, electrics full of water and mud is not salvageable
Can you honestly think of anything, apart from a boat, esky or pontoon, that would be salvagable?

It is all sinking to the river bed, sitting on mudbanks and polluting Moreton bay.
It is an environmental disaster.

 

[rugrat]

Perhaps, but having seen what it mostly getting washed out it is junked, waterlogged rubbish.

A lounge that is full of mud and water, chipboard frame swelling is not salvageable
A mattress that is full of mud and water, is not salvageable.
A TV that is full of mud and water, is not salvageable.
Fridge floating down the river, electrics full of water and mud is not salvageable
Can you honestly think of anything, apart from a boat, esky or pontoon, that would be salvagable?

It is all sinking to the river bed, sitting on mudbanks and polluting Moreton bay.
It is an environmental disaster.

Still doesn't change the fact it is theft. Things don't have to be valuable to constitute theft.

I got an old broken beyond repair clothes line in my garage - if someone took that with out permission that would be theft too.

Things can be put to other uses then what it is intended for BTW.
If people are looting this stuff, then they obviously see some kind of inherent value in them.

 

[ianvestor]

Can you honestly think of anything, apart from a boat, esky or pontoon, that would be salvagable?

That's easy:

Australian. Polymer. Banknotes.

They could be clinging to just about anything in amongst all those personal belongings.

I agree with rugrat anyway, it's still theft, even if you're stealing soggy chipboard.

 

[rugrat]

By the way, clean up is a very different issue to what is talked about in this thread. Clean up will come - but the large majority of people fishing through the rubbish are just hoping to come across something of value, not clean up the mess.

 

[Mr. Fabulous]

Fridge floating down the river, electrics full of water and mud is not salvageable

Look on the bright side - that fridge could be full of beer!

 

[mary&mat]

That's easy:

Australian. Polymer. Banknotes.

They could be clinging to just about anything in amongst all those personal belongings.

I agree with rugrat anyway, it's still theft, even if you're stealing soggy chipboard.

Good point...how many may have had a few thou' under the matress/in the dresser etc etc.

Jewellery I guess would be salvageable?

 

[ianvestor]

Jewellery I guess would be salvageable?

I was thinking that too, but it'd be far more likely to sink.

 

[Television]

I was thinking that too, but it'd be far more likely to sink.

Unless it was stashed in the sock drawer or something like that...

 

[DEC]

Still doesn't change the fact it is theft. Things don't have to be valuable to constitute theft.

I wasn't suggesting keeping the rotten pile of crap, who wants crap?
I was suggesting getting out of the water and preventing it from polluting the bay, killing sealife, washing up on beaches and sinking causing hazards.
A point that appears to have gone over everyone's head.

 

[Macca]

If you pick it up and take it home then I would consider it theft but I think it is better to drag as much as possible to shore and line it all up waiting to be taken to the tip or sorted through for recycling.

We don't want what is now rubbish polluting the bay and ocean etc IMO

 

[gooram]

Where do you draw the line?

What if a scuba diver finds someone's diamond ring at the bottom of the brisbane river?

Is that theft??

I say if it aint on your property anymore, it's gone. There's no other way to police it.
(of course, whether or not you have the gaul to take something that's not yours is a different matter )

 

[alexlee]

(of course, whether or not you have the gaul to take something that's not yours is a different matter )

I came, I saw, I....uh.... took?

 

[bluestorm]

Where do you draw the line?

What if a scuba diver finds someone's diamond ring at the bottom of the brisbane river?

Is that theft??

Yes, that's exactly what I thought (but figured let someone say it first), or get shot down by the Somersoft mob for being inconsiderate.

Much of what is being washed up in Morton Bay will be going to the dump anyway. Do you think council workers will be going through every nook and cranny of the items to see if someones personal items are hidden, or will they just dump it on the back of trucks as quickly as possible.

If people were going into other peoples homes and taking things, then thats looting. This is not.

this is what insurance is for. To cover loss of goods. So if they claim insurance, then get the item back, does that mean they are double dipping?

 

[Ajax]

If I collect polymer banknotes floating with the tide onto a beach is that looting?

I'm sure there will be are particular beaches in Moreton Bay which end up with most of this stuff deposited on them. Its difficult to think of what will survive intact-surfboards, tinnies, anything waterproof, things made of made of plastic, rubber (buckets, aluminium ladders maybe, plastic wading pools, washing baskets, plastic chairs, outdoor furniture, plastic garden rakes, wheely bins etc)

 

[FormerLurker]

Nah it's not looting its "wealth re-distribution" the government does it everyday

whatever happened to the looters will be shot rule? Sound appropriate.