ACCS acknowledges the support of the Victorian Opposition in relation to petrol theft

Jeff Rogut
The Association thanks the Opposition Shadow Minister for Police l Emergency Services l Bushfire Response, Wade Noonan, for raising the issue of petrol theft in Victoria.
The Government has refused to engage on this matter and we are grateful that this has been raised with the importance it deserves.
Members should consider raising this with their local MP’s as well.
Petrol theft
House: ASSEMBLY
Activity: Adjournment
Members: NOONAN
Date: 5 August 2014
5 August 2014 ASSEMBLY
Page 55
Mr NOONAN (Williamstown) — I raise a matter for the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. The simple action I seek from the minister is for him to meet with the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores to explain why his government has abandoned the 1500 small-business petrol station operators who face mounting losses due to petrol theft. The Liberal Party, the self-proclaimed champions of small business, should be ashamed that I have to use this adjournment matter to ask the police minister to do his job. There have been countless occasions on which government MPs have boasted in this chamber about their small business credentials and put down my colleagues for not supporting small business. I say to those government MPs, here is your moment of truth.
I appeal to government MPs to help the thousands of honest, hardworking and law-abiding retailers across metropolitan Melbourne and country Victoria who find themselves in an untenable position due to a shift in policy on petrol drive-offs. This policy change occurred on 1 July last year, when Victoria Police announced that it would no longer investigate petrol drive-offs unless there was sufficient information to indicate criminality.
This new policy makes it almost impossible for petrol station operators to have matters investigated by police. To make matters worse, the public has become aware of this policy shift and operators are becoming increasing powerless to act. According to the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores, petrol theft in Victoria is costing upwards of $10 million annually.
In March I wrote to the minister on behalf of the many family-run business operators seeking his assistance.
After I waited three months for a response, the minister stated that the problem of petrol theft was an operational matter for the Chief Commissioner of Police. What a cop-out that response is. These are small business people, apparently the backbone of the Liberal Party, yet the minister brushes them aside. These people deserve the government’s help. They do not deserve to be brushed off.
Petrol theft impacts every motorist in Victoria. The $10 million in unpaid petrol each year hits every motorist’s hip pocket. We are all paying for this crime in higher prices at the bowser, yet the government says that it is not its problem. The money has to be recovered from somewhere. Rather than assist, the government is now forcing these operators to recover their costs through a civil process, which is both lengthy and costly. Meanwhile, petrol drive-offs continue and police complain that they do not have the resources to investigate.
We now have the ridiculous situation where a person who steals a chocolate bar or a newspaper from a petrol station is more likely to be investigated for stealing than a person who puts $100 worth of fuel in their car and drives off without paying. The minister must do his job. He must sit down with the association and find a way through this mess.