Page 2434 - Week 11 - Thursday, 2 November 1989
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kind are given a statutory time within which to pay it and, subsequent to that, if they have not paid it within that time, action of some severe nature usually occurs. I am sure Mr Stefaniak would laugh at the concept that people given six months to pay certain fines should, when the six months are up, get a reminder notice from the court to say, "Dear Sir, you have not paid it", and then get a further extension of time.
Mr Stefaniak: They do, actually.
MR DUBY: I know they do, but not, I am sure, as a matter of courtesy, Mr Stefaniak; it is because they are being reminded that, if they do not pay this as a matter of urgency, they will be dealt with severely.
Mr Stefaniak: But it is a reminder notice; it is a courtesy.
MR DUBY: Yes. Well, of course, we do not want to - - -
Mr Stefaniak: The next notice is a policeman coming around to arrest the person, some months later.
MR DUBY: Yes, precisely.
Mr Collaery: And then Bill waiting to prosecute them.
MR DUBY: Absolutely, yes. As I said, I think it really boils down to a matter of social responsibility. These fines are just that; they are not normal accounts for which people have to regularly budget in their accounts system. Some mention has been made of that. I do not believe that people require a full month's notice to budget for the payment of fines, but I will get onto that matter later.
The second point is that it has been said that a reminder notice should be issued, for a number of reasons. We have heard that the car may have been stolen or a friend or relative may have borrowed the car and subsequently received a ticket without notifying the owner of it, et cetera. We have heard that people may maliciously remove a ticket from a windshield to put it on their own car or that it can be washed or blown away. Whatever the reason, people do not know they have had a ticket and they suddenly receive a notice in the mail saying that a particular offence occurred and that they are required to pay a fine. In addition, under this proposal they will be required to pay the original fine plus an administration fee.
I have been assured by the Minister and her departmental advisers that, in those cases or in cases like it where people have received a ticket and genuinely do not know about it, all they need to do, to be perfectly honest - I have asked the Minister for this assurance - is to notify the department in writing and administrative charges of any kind will not be incurred. Of course, if the vehicle were stolen or anything like that, that would be enough; they
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