Service station drive-offs have soared in South Australia and the state’s top cop has said police won’t investigate them, putting the onus on service station owners to help prevent them.
“With the cost-of-living pressures that people are dealing with, the significant increases in fuel costs, we will see more petrol drive-offs in the weeks to come,” said Commissioner Grant Stevens in remarks reported by 7News.
Drive-offs in the state have reportedly jumped 36 per cent – from 162 to 221 – in just one week amid surging fuel prices.
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Commissioner Stevens has said the “ball’s in the court of the retail fuel sector”, and has called on retailers to install pre-paid pumps like those common in the US.
These typically require you to swipe or insert a card, and you’re in turn only charged for the amount of fuel delivered.
The Commissioner reportedly said fuel thefts linked to more serious crimes would continue to be investigated, but “completely preventable” drive-offs would become the responsibility of retailers.
“If the industry won’t act, then I will be making decisions that will see the prioritisation of police resources to where they need to be spent and not being wasted on investigating or processing reports of crime that do not need to occur,” said Commissioner Stevens in remarks reported by News.com.au.
“The analogy would be if you continually leave your TV outside your house on the front verandah and it keeps getting stolen, there will come a point in time where we will tell you we’re not taking that report anymore because you can stop that from happening.
“I can’t compel the retail fuel sector to take these steps, but what I can do is manage how police deal with these offences. It bogs us down in investigations that we should not have to undertake.”
It’s not the first time the Commissioner has called for the introduction of pre-paid pumps, saying in July 2024 that fuel thefts could be stopped overnight with their introduction, but that South Australia Police had been arguing unsuccessfully for this with service stations for over a decade.
But the Motor Trade Association has argued the Commissioner’s remarks could help encourage fuel thieves.
“We certainly don’t want that messaging getting out to people that says, I can do this and get away with it, because it won’t be investigated. That’s a problem,” said CEO Darrell Jacobs.
Fuel prices have risen not due to an interruption of supply into Australia, but rather due to increased domestic demand which can at least in part be attributed to panic buying. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has also called out fuel retailers for increasing prices unexpectedly early.
Across the five largest cities in Australia, the consumer watchdog said daily average retail prices on March 11 were 219.7 cents per litre, up 48.8cpl since February 20. But since then fuel prices have risen substantially and some service stations have even run out of fuel.
Today, the ACCC announced it has launched an enforcement investigation into allegations of anti-competitive conduct by Ampol Ltd, BP Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, and Viva Energy Australia Pty Ltd.
This follows reports concerning diesel availability to independent wholesalers and distributors servicing regional and rural areas in Australia.
“The ACCC is closely scrutinising all fuel markets during this period, and we have received reports of alleged anti-competitive behaviour. We are therefore investigating these matters urgently,” said ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb in a release.
“It is not our usual practice to publicly announce investigations, but given the significance of the issue, the ACCC is confirming this enforcement investigation. We recognise the widespread concerns held by consumers, businesses and farmers about fuel pricing and supply issues arising during the Middle Eastern conflict.”
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