It is not quite the dog-ate-my-homework excuse, but Premier Ben Carroll has blamed a pencil case, forgetfulness and human error for an embarrassing moment at the bowser.
Carroll, who has toughened up the state government’s crackdown on crime since assuming the role of premier in July, found himself on the wrong side of the law on Monday night after he filled up his car at a petrol station in Airport West and drove off without paying.
“Late Monday night, I was running some errands and filled up the car with petrol. Found out yesterday I forgot to pay,” he fessed up on Wednesday morning.
A call from Victoria Police to the Department of Parliamentary Services alerted the premier to the bungle, and Carroll returned to the service station to settle his bill on Tuesday night.
“It shows that politicians are human beings and even premiers make mistakes,” Carroll said of the forgetful moment on Wednesday morning.
Speaking at Melbourne Assembly, he said he was on dad duty and running errands when the accidental drive-off occurred.
“Monday was a tough day for a lot of reasons, and I got home and I had a busy night on the phone, and my wife and I had a discussion,” Carroll said, referencing the attack on federal MP Helen Haines.
“She (Carroll’s wife, Fiona) was going to return Maddie’s (his daughter) friend’s pencil case. I said, ‘I’ll do it and I’ll get petrol’. And then I found out the following day I didn’t pay,” he said.
“That has since been rectified.”
As it happens, Carroll is not alone in being a politician with problems at the petrol pump.
“I have been contacted by the former deputy premier John Thwaites, who told me, ‘Don’t worry, Ben. I didn’t pay for the petrol, and I also drove off with the nozzle in the car, with the petrol hose together’,” Carroll said. “And that made me feel a lot better.”
Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police Mike Bush also weighed in on the petrol palaver on Wednesday, saying not every drive-off was a criminal matter.
“Our point of view is that a petrol drive-off is a civil matter until it’s proven otherwise,” Bush said.
“If it turns out that it’s a criminal matter, there was intent, etc, etc, charges will follow subsequently. But everyone’s got the opportunity to address an error.”
The commissioner said he was aware that the premier had paid his outstanding debt.
“We’re very careful not to criminalise every petrol drive-off. We do understand, and I’m very empathetic and sympathetic to petrol station owners who do suffer, but it’s not always criminal.”