Dairy owners sceptical of Nash's tobacco vending machine idea
Taking tobacco products out of dairies and putting them in vending machines outside will go a long way to discouraging robberies, Napier MP and senior Labour Minister Stuart Nash says.
"I am very keen to have tobacco taken out of dairies if I am honest with you," Nash, also Police Minister, told Hawke's Bay App. "I genuinely believe that if we are going to sell tobacco then it should be in a lock box, or think of a vending machine, outside a dairy. I think that would take away a lot of the risk, not the only risk of course.
"But let's look at why these people are committing these crimes, what they're after, the products they're after. A lot of the time it's tobacco. So let's work with the sector to come up with solutions around that area. And of course, we have our smoke-free policy as well."
However, dairy owners remain sceptical and say the only way to combat crime is to ensure offenders are held to account.
Sunny Kaushal, Dairy and Business Owners' Group Chairman, says Nash's idea is another example of "theoretical thinking" and is just "impractical".
"I would like to meet with Stuart Nash and I would like to challenge his thinking. I would like to place the ongoing reality on the table in front of him. How can you say those dispensers will stop it when vehicles are being used as the weapons? It is just impractical.
"In Hawke's Bay and a number of other places, these hardworking business owners and workers have even put metal grills across their counters and encased themselves in a jail-like structure. They are inside, to protect themselves, whereas the offenders are out going free on the streets. How bizarre it is."
Sunny Kaushal, Chairman of the Dairy and Business Owners' Group. Photo/Supplied.
Kaushal says dairy owners in Hawke's Bay and around the country are all "living in fear every day".
"When they're going to their businesses, they do not know what is in store for them. They do not know whether they will be able to come back home safe and see their family. That is the kind of fear. It's a very sad face in New Zealand. New Zealand was never like that and we do not want NZ like that."
He has been persistently taking up the issue loud and clear to the Government of the day.
"Had the Government listened to us, our beautiful country wouldn’t be in such a mess and state of lawlessness. A number of tragedies, destruction and incidents including deaths over the years to this senseless crime could have been avoided."
Parmjit Kalkat, owner of both Four Square Eastend on Heretaunga St E and Frimley Four Square, says it is not the solution, as cigarettes are already required to be locked away in secure cabinets inside for insurance purposes.
"It is also not just the ram raids. We have people coming in during our open hours and putting stuff in a bag, stealing meat and all sorts of things, and not going to the checkout and paying."
At Frimley Four Square, they have placed three giant concrete blocks in front of the store after being the victim of three ram raids. Kalkat says the last two times, the offenders were unable to get into the cabinet and instead stole a box of gum and a few bottles of wine and beer.
"They are targeting all types of stores and doing the crime with no fear."
The owner of the Ahuriri Corner Store, who did not want to be named due to safety concerns, was emotional when detailing the crime inflicted on her business.
She says the past two-three years have been a "nightmare" with a number of ram-raids, and other break-ins. Most recently, her store was ram-raided on January 18 by a group of teenagers who she says stole drinks including juice and lollies.
They have even resorted to taking cigarettes and cash off-site each night, and a sign in the shop window detailing so, in an attempt to deter people from breaking in.
"Every single morning, I wake up automatically to check on my phone and see if there is any call from the alarm company saying we've had another break-in.
While she believes Nash's idea could possibly work for those after tobacco, the owner says more and more it is young people who are breaking in "for fun".
"For those people, I don't believe putting the machine outside will work. At the moment they are doing such things for no consequence. The punishment should be harder so that they won't do it again."
While Racecourse Road Dairy in Waipukurau is one of the lucky ones, owner Ravinder Kumar doesn't believe tobacco vending machines are the answer.
Additional reporting by Michaela Gower
