Bunnings, Officeworks owner Wesfarmers calls out COVID lockdowns as factor in thefts by organised crime rings

Wesfarmers believes COVID-19 lockdowns have contributed to the rise of organised crime rings that have been blamed for rising theft from its 800 stores. The owner of Bunnings, Kmart, Target and Officeworks has joined other major retailers in calling out Victoria as the biggest problem State, demanding tougher legislative penalties to stem losses that are running at “hundreds of millions of dollars” a year. “We are seeing a very high degree of organised crime focused on retail stores in Australia, and a disproportionate amount of that is in Victoria,” Wesfarmers boss Rob Scott said. Announcing the conglomerate’s annual financial results on Thursday, Mr Scott said “without doubt, there’s a hangover effect post COVID” in Victoria that was contributing to that State’s rising theft levels. “Victoria went through a very draconian lockdown, and I think there’s both mental and economic scars,” he said. “And generally, you find that when times are tough and people are doing it tougher, there’s greater crime.” Mr Scott said gangs were targeting high-value items, such as tech products from Officeworks or power tools from Bunnings, and then selling them on the black market or online marketplaces. “These issues are not unique to us, I’d say every retailer in the country is grappling with them at the moment,” he said. Wesfarmers is lobbying the Victorian Government to follow other States by speeding up the implementation of tougher penalties for retail theft, while at the same time advocating for retailers to be able to selectively use facial recognition technology to identify known offenders in their stores. “There are instances (in Victoria) where we have reported a shoplifter to police, they’ve been arrested, let out on bail and reoffended the same day,” Mr Scott said. He said Bunnings chief Mike Schneider “has been advocating for the responsible use of facial recognition technologies that focuses in on known criminal offenders, and we think that there’s an opportunity to create greater safety in the retail environment by using those technologies that currently exist”. Wesfarmers’ concerns echo those from other retailers in recent weeks, including supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths, and Super Retail, which operates the BCF, Macpac and Rebel store chains. Super Retail said Rebel had been targeted by groups of five or more people who steal thousands of dollars of goods in one in-store raid, often targeting big-name brands such as Nike and Titleist, and often while brandishing a weapon.