Rod Duke: Briscoes Group Managing Director on the latest proposals to crack down on retail crime

The shakeup to shoplifting laws continues to be seen as a good first step among retailers, but the boss of Briscoes and Rebel Sport believes the devil will be in the detail.  

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith's unveiled the latest crackdown proposals, including speeding ticket-like infringements, and up to seven years prison time for theft more than $2000.     

Briscoe Group Managing Director Rod Duke told Mike Hosking it's a terrific start and guesses there will be enforcement guidance to come.  

He's hoping there will be consequences embedded in the legislation but given it could be a year in the making, they will have to wait to see what happens. 

Duke also believes they’ll need to be strengthened down the line - the latest proposals may only deter some, as he says there are very experienced thieves around. 

He says losing the money is catastrophic, but the bigger issue is the fact staff are abused, injured, and threatened in these situations. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And so big week on rules and penalties around crime.
The Justice Minister with us in half an hour. But
yesterday it was retail's turn. Infringement notices five hundred bucks
of stolen goods below five hundred dollars over five hundred
fines up to one thousand. For the big stuff over
two thousand dollars, you can go to prison for up
to seven years. Now. Rod Duke, of course, is the
Briscoes Group managing director and is with us. Good morning,
Good morning, Mike. Is this theory or reality? Do you

(00:21):
think it'll work these instant fines or not?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Well, I think it's a terrific start. Look, you've got
to start somewhere. There's a lot to come through in
the detail, and it does sound as though it's going
to take a year to coming to force, So we've
got a bit of waiting to do.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
How will you implement it? Do you have you put
any thought into that? I mean literally, how will you
implement it?

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Well, we've got term, we've got cameras, and we've got
facial recognition probably coming through to catch the more hardened
of them. But I guess that's in the detail even today,
as you know, it's pretty difficult get the police on
site when you do run across run across the thieves.
But look, we'll see. I guess there'll be some some

(01:08):
guidance for us.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
The next part will be do you think they'll ever
pay the fine or is that not really your problem?

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Well, it's probably not my problem. I think. Look, at
the end of the day, there will be embedded in
the legislation some consequence. Well I'm hoping there'll be some
consequence embedded in the legislation. But you know, as I've
been told, it's a year in the making. So I
guess we've just got to hold their breath and see

(01:36):
what happens.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Flip side of it. Do you think it's a deterrent
if I am a thief? Do I think that a
thousand dollars are going to put me off?

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Well, look at it probably will put some up. But
there's some pretty hardened thieves out there, and and Philly,
you know, pretty experienced at this this thieving gig as well.
It'll put some off. It might it might have to
just look at strengthening a little little downstream. I guess.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
So what do you deal with in terms of crime?
I mean, how much does it cost you, how often
does it happen? And who are these people?

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Look, I think it's reasonable to guess that it costs
some retailers somewhere between half a percent and one percent
of their revenue. So if we were in that boat,
our revenue is about eight hundred millions, it's probably going
to cost us about around about six to eight million

(02:34):
dollars a year. So that's the that's the.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
That's the quantum of And is that every shop every day?

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Now that's a total total stop. Yeah, it happens, It happens.
It happens pretty much every day. There's no there's no
set pattern to it. There's no set stores. There's gangs
that rove for store to store to store. You know,
they just give us, they just take it in turns.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
And how to staff handle it? And is that an
issue for stuff?

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Well, it looks at a huge issue because look, at
the end of the day, you know, losing the money
is you know, it's just catastrophic for us. But at
the end of the day, you know, staffer are injured,
their abuse, they're they're threatened, and that's probably the bigger
issue that we don't think about. The staff a under

(03:26):
enormous pressure.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
All right, Ron appreciate it very much. Rob Duke, who's
with Briscoes obviously.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
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