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Unidentified man being interviewed at the Shell Roadhouse Meeting, Gailes, Ipswich, September 1980
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TitleUnidentified man being interviewed at the Shell Roadhouse Meeting, Gailes, Ipswich, September 1980Date Created4th September 1980AcknowledgementThe Queensland Times
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Description
DescriptionThe advent of self-service petrol stations hit Australian shores in 1976 and there was a great pressure on franchise owners of petrol stations to embrace this new technology. Self-service was touted as the freshest way to offer consumers the cheapest prices for fuel.
The previous system involved customers driving into a petrol station and being met by an attendant, a paid employee of the petrol station, who could pump the desired amount of petrol into the purchaser's car and also perform other minor maintenance tasks on the vehicle, such as checking tyre pressure. This was considered to be a good job for students working weekend and part-time jobs. With self-service, the customer themselves would pump their own petrol and the use for an unskilled, entry-level, casual employee was impractical.
Mr Vincent Klein, proprietor of Shell Roadhouse petrol station at Gailes, was a vocal proponent of full-service petrol stations and refused to allow his business to change to the new self-service system. According to Brian Douglas Austin, Member for Wavell (an electorate in Brisbane which was eliminated in 1986) of the Queensland State Parliament, who discussed Klein's situation in a parliamentary debate on the 9th of September, 1980:
"Mr Klein operates one of the Shell Company's most profitable sites and was rewarded for his efforts in winning Shell dealership overseas trips and even a silver plate for performance and service. However, this man now finds himself in the position of being evicted from that station site because he dared to conflict with the company in not going self-service, and because he was a prime-mover in organising other Shell dealers in exposing some of the practices that the company was involved in. It is very evident from Shell's dealings with Mr Klein that they do not know the meaning of loyalty to their employees."
It is believed that these images were taken of a meeting held in support of Klein and in rejection of the self-service pumps in order that jobs, including Klein's own, would be preserved. The outcome of this meeting is not known.References (online)Parliamentary Debates [Hansard] Legislative Assembly - TUESDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 1980 - Queensland Parliament - [Accessed 21 Nov 2024]Austin, Brian Douglas - Former Member Details - Queensland Parliament - [Accessed 21 Nov 2024]Nicklin - QLD Election 2024 - Antony Green - 7 Nov 2024 - ABC News - [Accessed 21 Nov 2024]FLASHBACK FRIDAY- Photos from the Leader’s archives - Murray Trembath - August 2017 - [Accessed 21 Nov 2024]
The previous system involved customers driving into a petrol station and being met by an attendant, a paid employee of the petrol station, who could pump the desired amount of petrol into the purchaser's car and also perform other minor maintenance tasks on the vehicle, such as checking tyre pressure. This was considered to be a good job for students working weekend and part-time jobs. With self-service, the customer themselves would pump their own petrol and the use for an unskilled, entry-level, casual employee was impractical.
Mr Vincent Klein, proprietor of Shell Roadhouse petrol station at Gailes, was a vocal proponent of full-service petrol stations and refused to allow his business to change to the new self-service system. According to Brian Douglas Austin, Member for Wavell (an electorate in Brisbane which was eliminated in 1986) of the Queensland State Parliament, who discussed Klein's situation in a parliamentary debate on the 9th of September, 1980:
"Mr Klein operates one of the Shell Company's most profitable sites and was rewarded for his efforts in winning Shell dealership overseas trips and even a silver plate for performance and service. However, this man now finds himself in the position of being evicted from that station site because he dared to conflict with the company in not going self-service, and because he was a prime-mover in organising other Shell dealers in exposing some of the practices that the company was involved in. It is very evident from Shell's dealings with Mr Klein that they do not know the meaning of loyalty to their employees."
It is believed that these images were taken of a meeting held in support of Klein and in rejection of the self-service pumps in order that jobs, including Klein's own, would be preserved. The outcome of this meeting is not known.References (online)Parliamentary Debates [Hansard] Legislative Assembly - TUESDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 1980 - Queensland Parliament - [Accessed 21 Nov 2024]Austin, Brian Douglas - Former Member Details - Queensland Parliament - [Accessed 21 Nov 2024]Nicklin - QLD Election 2024 - Antony Green - 7 Nov 2024 - ABC News - [Accessed 21 Nov 2024]FLASHBACK FRIDAY- Photos from the Leader’s archives - Murray Trembath - August 2017 - [Accessed 21 Nov 2024]
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Queensland Times Collection
Queensland Times CollectionThe Queensland Times CollectionSeptember 1980 - Queensland Times
Asset Details
Reference IDQT-1980-09-04-0004QT-1980-09-04-0005QT-1980-09-04-0006QT-1980-09-04-0016QT-1980-09-04-0017QT-1980-09-04-0018QT-1980-09-04-0025QT-1980-09-04-0026QT-1980-09-04-0027QT-1980-09-04-0028QT-1980-09-04-0029QT-1980-09-04-0030QT-1980-09-04-0187QT-1980-09-04-0188QT-1980-09-04-0189Asset TypeImage - JpegColour or Black & White ImageBlack & WhitePhysical DescriptionNegativeCopyright NoticeTo use this image, please contact the Picture Ipswich Digital Archivist. CopyrightPicture Ipswich Copyright Information
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Unidentified man being interviewed at the Shell Roadhouse Meeting, Gailes, Ipswich, September 1980. Picture Ipswich, accessed 18/03/2025, https://www.pictureipswich.com.au/nodes/view/34926