Internet personality Rongo Keene’s fuel giveaway sparks ‘chaos’, traffic jam at Hamilton petrol station

A free fuel giveaway by a Kiwi internet personality has caused “chaos” and a traffic jam at a petrol station in Hamilton.

Rongo Keene, a strongman competitor and former contestant on NZ Idol, shared a post on social media announcing the giveaway at the Z Te Papanui in Fairfield, Hamilton.

“With the price of fuel out the gate, ridiculous, I’ve decided I’m going to be giving some fuel away,” Keene said in a Facebook video, posted under his video game streaming page, Strongest Māori Gamer.

“Come on down, I’m going to hook you up.”

The post told his fans to “tag friends and family who live in Hamilton” and to meet at 10am today – with a sizeable number taking up the offer.

The response was so large that it caused a traffic jam outside the station, with people describing the scenes as “chaos”.

“Good on you! Causing chaos in Hamilton’s busiest roundabout but good on you anyway,” said one person on Facebook.

“We just went past,” said another. “Cops there, really packed.”

“Bro you just caused a traffic jam,” added another.

Keene, who livestreams gaming and other content on streaming platform Kick, documented the entire event live.

Police were called after internet personality Rongo Keene's free fuel giveaway got out of hand. Photo / Kick / THESMG

When he was told about the chaos unfolding at the Z petrol station, Keene said on his stream: “Why would you be at the pump if you’re not going to put some gas in it though? Oh my God, that’s a problem.

“I think we’re going to have to get in there and get straight into it then. If there are people there hogging the pumps, they’re going to get in trouble. We don’t want to get in trouble.”

Police confirmed to the Herald that they responded, to help with traffic.

“Police were made aware of a large amount of vehicles queuing at a petrol station on Peachgrove Rd around 9.20am. Police attended and assisted with traffic management,” a police spokesperson said.

Z Energy said it was aware of the event, which concluded after about 20 minutes.

“Z Energy was aware of the social media post from an individual offering to assist with fuel costs at Z Te Papanui (Five Cross Roads),” a Z Energy spokesperson said.

“We monitored the situation closely alongside police, and can confirm the event concluded within approximately 20 minutes.”

A police officer was also filmed on Keene’s livestream.

“It’s not illegal what you’re doing, but it’s causing traffic to back up,” the police officer can be heard telling Keene.

“Ideally, we want everyone to just clear out.”

Speaking to his livestream viewers after the event, Keene said he had “over 100 vouchers” to give away.

“What the f*** was going on? That was unreal … we pumped through a s***load of people aye?

“Big shoutout to everyone who came. Thank you to the police officers too, they were actually really nice.”

It comes as fuel prices have soared across the country – and the globe – amid the war in Iran.

The average price of unleaded 91 petrol in New Zealand has increased from $2.49 per litre in early March to over $3.46 today.

Keene is a former winner of Australia’s Strongest Man competition. He was a contestant on NZ Idol as a teenager.

The Herald was unable to reach Keene for comment.