Page 2435 - Week 11 - Thursday, 2 November 1989
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would not even have to pay the fine. But we are talking about situations where a car has been borrowed or someone has just helped himself to the ticket.
Mr Stefaniak: What if they do not write?
MR DUBY: Well, naturally enough, they are going to have to do something about the situation. If they do not respond to a letter advising them that an offence has been committed, why would they bother answering a reminder notice, Mr Stefaniak?
The answer clearly is that they would simply take action, if they are in any way responsible. I am sure all people are. We are assured that the purpose of sending people reminder notices is to assume they are responsible; that they have just not paid the fine because they have forgotten or they have not had the money or something like that. Of course, in such cases they will respond, naturally enough, to a notice which tells them the fine has not been paid and an administration fee has been charged to them. As I said, the Minister has advised that that fee will be waived if someone can make representations in writing, or they can go, I am sure, to the Office of City Management or the shopfronts right throughout the city in many convenient locations and make a statement there at the counter if they are unable to draft a suitable letter themselves.
Actually I have received advice from someone in relation to the problem of the misappropriation of parking tickets or their being blown or washed away, and the recommendation was simply that a very sticky tag be attached to the ticket. It could then easily be just plonked onto the windscreen and the tag would be so sticky that it would stay firm and require a razor blade or something like that to remove it. It might be worth investigations, Minister.
If someone then comes and rips off the ticket part, that person cannot attach it to his or her own car. That means that the parking officers will not recognise it as a ticket on such a person's vehicle. Of course this would also cover the situation where the wind blows it away or someone somehow removes it. That sticky label will be on the windscreen. The owner of the vehicle will not be able to say, "I did not know about the ticket", because there will be the label with some printing on it to let the person know a parking ticket has been issued. Of course, as people got tickets they could have them like score cards on war planes; you know, up the side of the windscreen. People would then be able to keep a tally of how many tickets they have had through the year. So there is a whole variety of ways that the problems mentioned by Mr Stefaniak can be overcome.
I have proposed some sensible amendments because I think it is fairly apparent that we all agree that a 14-day period of notice is simply insufficient for people to be able to
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