Service Station Crime - MTA Position Statement

Crime Against the Community

Service stations offer an essential service to all New Zealanders and contribute billions of dollars to the economy. They enable people and families to work, go on holiday, get important care and supplies and connect with loved ones. In addition, their retail stores offer the public convenient and essential shopping at times when other outlets are closed.

Crime is an everyday risk and reality for service stations. Violent, terrifying aggravated robberies and ram raids put workers’ lives at risk and result in physical injury and long-lasting mental trauma. Drive off fuel theft costs businesses millions of dollars a year. Criminal offending against service stations echoes the experience of other retailers and has increased sharply in the last 18 months with 41,000 offences recorded by New Zealand Police since January 1, 2023. Many service stations are independently owned and operated by hard-working New Zealanders for whom crime is a serious, even existential, threat.

The impact and cost (in both human and financial terms) of crime against fuel retailers is far-reaching. When they are forced to close, restrict operations or increase pricing as a result of crime, everyone suffers. Crime against service stations is crime against the community.

The Right to Safety

All service station workers have the right to a safe, crime-free workplace. Government and agencies such as New Zealand Police have a responsibility and obligation to help safeguard vulnerable workers from crime.

As the peak automotive industry membership organisation, the Motor Trade Association supports service stations to protect themselves from crime and stay safe. MTA surveying shows crime is the number one concern for service station members. MTA wants to work with Government and agencies to ensure workers and public are protected.

What MTA Is Doing

MTA represents the fuel retail sector. We take the impact of crime on the country’s 1250 service stations extremely seriously. MTA supports service station members by:

• Regularly surveying and contacting them to hear concerns and collate data
• Advocating to Government on their behalf
• Publicising the issue in media, to raise awareness and initiate response
• Working with Police on counter-crime measures
• Working with agencies to ensure service stations are included in protective schemes, such as the fog cannon subsidy
• Partnering with a national insurance provider to ensure members have access to sector specific insurance cover
• Having a range of resources and advice and helping members access platforms to identify offenders.

The Challenge to Government

Service station crime must be viewed in a wider context of retail crime. Addressing retail crime is complex and New Zealand is not alone in this issue. Retail crime has increased across the world. While the problem is clear, solutions are challenging. International responses and initiatives offer some guidance: innovative and bold measures are required.