Victorian Premier Ben Carroll has blamed a tough, busy day for absent-mindedly driving away from a petrol station without paying the $90 bill, after he was tracked down by police.
“Late Monday night, I was running some errands and filled up the car with petrol. Found out yesterday I forgot to pay,” Carroll said in a statement on Wednesday. “I fixed the bill straight away. Grateful for the team at the servo for their understanding.”
Police had contacted the Department of Parliamentary Services about the incident, which then relayed the message to the premier.
On stage at an event in Melbourne, the premier later explained the sequence of events, saying Monday was a difficult time following the attack on Victorian federal MP Helen Haines.
“Monday was a tough day for a lot of reasons. I got home, I had a busy night on the phone. My wife and I had a discussion who was going to return [daughter] Maddie’s friend’s pencil case. I said I’ll do it, and I’ll get petrol,” Carroll told The Age’s Melbourne Assembly event.
“I found out the following day I didn’t pay for the petrol. That has since been rectified. But I have been contacted by the former deputy premier John Thwaites who’s told me ‘Don’t worry Ben, I didn’t pay for the petrol and I also drove off with the nozzle in the car’. That made me feel a lot better.”
The premier did not reveal which service station it was for security reasons, as it was near his home in his electorate of Niddrie, in Melbourne’s north-western suburbs.
‘A very difficult day’
At a press conference, Carroll said it was the first time he had been involved in such an incident.
He said he had been through his phone records of the day to try to understand how he had made the mistake, and they indicated he had “a very difficult day” that included conversations or texts with Haines’ husband, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the police commissioner and state MPs.
Carroll chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss rising threats against politicians after the attack on Haines and to increase security for the November 28 state election. Early voting will start 10 days earlier.
Victorian state MPs have been growing increasingly concerned about their safety ahead of polling day, and have reported a sharp escalation in verbal and physical attacks. Some MPs have had their offices vandalised in recent weeks.
Extracted in full from: https://www.afr.com/politics/carroll-admits-to-accidentally-driving-off-without-paying-at-servo-20261021-p617bl
