Kaushal said if steps weren't taken to protect shopkeepers, he and several others would protest with a hunger strike.
Last night's meeting followed a march last month of about 700 people in Manukau calling on authorities to better protect shopkeepers, and a petition, which has gathered up to 7000 signatures, will also be presented to Parliament.
Kaushal also felt Indian and Chinese communities were being targeted by criminal gangs.
"Why are these crimes targeting certain community groups?
"Is it because they are taking advantage because we are good-natured people? [We're] law-abiding citizens, paying taxes and contributing to the economy."
Labour MP for Mt Roskill and spokesperson for ethnic communities Michael Wood was at the meeting and later told the Herald small business crime was a "serious issue" the Government had "been brushing off".
"This is real, it's not just a statistical blip, it's not just people getting up in arms about something that's in their imaginations."
He called for better resourcing for police, with officers given a greater "community focus".
"Of course people are calling for tougher penalties, [but] in my view that's not the solution, it's a visible presence to deter crime."
He said subsidies for youth apprenticeship schemes could also help steer troubled youngsters away from crime.
"Young people [need] decent jobs and [to] be in school. A lot of these robberies, that have been happening recently, have been 13-, 14-, 15-year-old kids."
He said there was "definitely a disproportionate impact" on ethnic minority communities as a result of an "absolute epidemic" in small-business crime.
"I wouldn't speculate on whether there would be a different response if there were different ethnicities involved. But suffice to say that the current response is totally unacceptable."
Act Party leader David Seymour, who was also at the meeting, told the Herald there was an "enormous crisis, right across Auckland, of people getting bashed up".
He said his party's three-strike policy for serious offenders would help reduce attacks against shopkeepers, but education rather than more cops was of greater need.
"People put that up [greater police numbers] as a silver bullet, but I don't think that anyone believes if we have 5 per cent more police that we'll solve the crime problem."
He said the Government's tax policy on tobacco "hasn't worked" and has "basically made the dairy and service station workers pawns in this battle between the anti-smoking lobby and the tobacco lobby".
"Disproportionately it is Asian students on Queen St getting attacked, it's Indian women getting their handbags nicked, it's shops that Asians and Indians tend to run that get attacked - although part of that is they have the tobacco and alcohol that you want to steal.
"We all need to be more respectful with the way we go about our polices or you end up emboldening racist and violent people," he added.
Green Party list MP and spokeswoman for ethnic affairs and workplace safety Denise Roche said small business owners have "every right to feel angry and horrified".
Also at the meeting, she agreed small businesses, particularly those operated by minority groups were being targeted unproportionately.
"We are in the midst of creating a society where we are blaming people of different ethnicities. We've seen an increase in racism," she said.
She added some ethnic communities were targeted because they were seen as "more vulnerable", and said consistent underfunding and cuts to police during the past eight years had led to shopkeepers feeling less protected.
During the meeting, NZ First leader Winston Peters said, "we know the facts".
"Dairies are being robbed, owners and workers attacked, and terrified."
He cited the closure of several Auckland police stations, a lack of police numbers, and an increase in population as reasons for small business crime.
"We can't blame the police. They are not responsible for having their resources capped in 2009, for their lack of frontline numbers, or for the propaganda fraud that 'crime has been falling'.
"You became a bigger target when the Government raised the price of cigarettes," he told the meeting.
"Cigarettes and liquor are gold for idle youth who want easy money, often for drugs. You're rightly fed up, and scared."
He also called for more police, tougher penalties, and regular community patrols.
National list MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar, based in Mt Roskill, said the government was committed to keeping communities safe.
"That's why earlier this year we announced a new $503 million Safer Communities package. That package has three parts - targeting and catching offenders, preventing crime and reducing victimisation, and delivering a more responsive police service."
"I'd encourage any small business owners concerned about their safety to talk to police. They can provide some tips and advice on how to help make their business safer and less likely to become a victim of crime."
