Queensland Police are appealing for help to identify a truck driver who allegedly filled a prime mover with about 1,462 litres of fuel at a Cunningham Highway service station and left without paying. It is one of several fuel theft cases this month, and at current pump prices a single incident can now wipe out a week’s fuel margin.
The prime mover with no plates
Police say the man filled a white Western Star prime mover at a service station at Sladevale, near Warwick, shortly after 3pm on 10 October. The fuel was worth more than $4,000, and the truck was displaying no registration plates. Queensland Police released CCTV images on 29 October. Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, quoting reference QP2602025508.
The $74,000 fuel card
In Tasmania, a 37-year-old Ravenswood man was arrested on 23 October and charged over fuel worth more than $74,000, allegedly bought using a stolen fuel card. Tasmania Police recovered 4,600 litres. The charges include 60 counts of using a computer with intent to defraud.
Even a Premier
Victorian Premier Ben Carroll admitted on 21 October that he had filled up on the evening of 19 October and forgotten to pay. “Found out yesterday I forgot to pay. I fixed the bill straight away,” he said. The Australian reported that Victoria Police had been told about the unpaid fuel.
The wider numbers
The figures vary by state:
- National: ACAPMA chief executive Rowan Lee told AAP in March that fuel theft had risen by 8 to 30 per cent nationally since the Middle East conflict began, and that it was costing retailers about $80 million a year even before then.
- South Australia: police data shows 6,672 fuel thefts between 1 July 2025 and mid-April 2026. Commissioner Grant Stevens has called drive-offs “completely preventable” and urged retailers to use prepay.
- Queensland: police recorded 8,004 fuel thefts from 1 January to 18 March 2026, compared with 7,946 for the same period a year earlier, a change of less than 1 per cent.
The rate may not be rising everywhere. The cost of each incident is.
For independent operators
At about $2.77 a litre for diesel, a 100-litre drive-off now costs close to $280 before you count the margin you never made. The fixes are unglamorous and mostly free. South Australia Police’s petrol theft advice is a good checklist:
- note registration numbers and cross them off when the customer pays
- watch for missing or altered plates and for people hiding from cameras
- check that your CCTV is actually recording
- report every incident promptly
Report online through the NSW Police Community Portal or Queensland’s Policelink, or by phone in South Australia (131 444). Consider prepay at your higher-risk times, especially for vehicles without plates. Staff safety comes before the fuel: no drive-off is worth a staff member stepping in front of a vehicle.