Victoria’s Premier Ben Carroll has admitted driving away from a petrol station without paying for fuel just months after his predecessor said those committing illegal drive-offs should be prosecuted.
The incident is understood to have taken place late on Monday night when he was driving his personal car.
‘Late Monday night, I was running some errands and filled up the car with petrol,’ he told the Herald Sun on Wednesday morning.
‘Found out yesterday I forgot to pay. I fixed the bill straight away.
‘Grateful for the team at the servo for their understanding.’
Police contacted Victoria’s Department of Parliamentary Services over the unpaid fuel, according to The Australian, and Carroll was notified. He then settled up with the petrol station.
Earlier this year, former Premier Jacinta Allan told Victorian parliament’s question time that there had been an increase in drive-offs from petrol stations.
‘We are seeing a rise in that incidents of drive-offs at service stations, and it is an illegal practice, it needs to be prosecuted,’ she said.
Victoria’s Premier Ben Carroll has admitted driving away from a petrol station without paying for fuel, prompting a call to the police
Carroll said he fixed the bill ‘straight away’ and was grateful for the team at the service station for their understanding (file image)
Allan made the comments when asked about a rise in fuel theft on farms as a result of shortages sparked after the US launched military action in Iran earlier this year.
She said the theft of fuel ‘does come at a time when there is a lot of pressure in the community’.
‘We have seen an increase in the theft of fuel in farming and rural communities and also, as I said, in drive-offs at service stations,’ she repeated later during the session.
‘This is something that Victoria Police is closely monitoring.
‘It is coming at a time too when there is a lot of pressure. It remains illegal to steal fuel, and there is work there from Victoria Police to respond to this challenge.’
Carroll’s statement has been published as Victoria is preparing to head to the polls for the state election on November 28, which is expected to be hotly contested.
Victoria’s Upper House could be ‘evenly split’, according to the latest voting intention analysis by Roy Morgan, published on Tuesday.
‘The race to secure a majority of seats in Victoria’s Upper House is evenly poised with the L-NP Coalition-One Nation set to secure 18 seats, level with the ALP-Greens (18 seats), and the remaining four seats are undecided,’ the organisation said.
The Coalition is projected to secure 12 seats, followed by the Labor party which is on track to win 10.
Roy Morgan reported One Nation is forecast to gain a further five seats, securing six in total. The Greens are projected to win eight.
The organisation said this leaves four crucial seats in play, which are to be decided by preference flows, in Western Victoria, Northern Metropolitan, Southern Metropolitan, and Western Metropolitan.
