Page 4509 - Week 15 - Thursday, 22 November 1990
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There have been many bookings, late at night, outside the Canberra Centre on the loading zone and also on the no-standing area. This is between 10 o'clock and midnight on a Friday night. That is unreasonable. That does not serve the business community of Canberra. I do not know how widespread that particular problem is. What should be done, I would suggest, is that that "no standing" sign directly outside the Canberra Centre could, perhaps, have a time restriction on it after the time the Canberra Centre has closed. Perhaps, it could be used for standard parking, et cetera.
Another case that has been brought to my notice, once again, concerns someone trying to operate a business in this very difficult economic climate. The gentleman has a 1988 Nissan Nomad van. I have seen the van. Everyone who looks at it would no doubt say, "Yes, it is a commercial vehicle". However when you purchase these vehicles, they have seats in the back. These seats can be taken out. Indeed, for most of the week - certainly all through the business week - he has those seats down or taken out and uses the vehicle as a commercial vehicle. He is involved in running a restaurant, and also another business. He, quite often, needs to carry things backwards and forwards.
The gentleman approached the Motor Registry a long time ago and made the point that he used the vehicle for commercial purposes. And, more importantly, he is prepared to pay the extra registration fee. Unfortunately, he says that he was told that, as the vehicle comes within their definition of a passenger vehicle, that could not be done.
Over a period of time, he has been booked repeatedly. Apparently, the fines run into some thousands of dollars. He has not paid these fines because he feels that this is not a fair and just situation. On the evidence that I have seen, I tend to come to the same conclusion.
If someone has a vehicle that they wish to use commercially, can we not, as public servants, work out a way to allow them to do that, particularly if they are prepared to pay the commercial rate? It might require an affidavit stating that, indeed, the person is a businessman and uses the vehicle. Perhaps we should be a little bit more trusting of members of the public. In this case, as I have said, I have seen the vehicle and I have actually seen the vehicle loaded. There is no doubt whatsoever that he uses it basically as a commercial vehicle. On the weekend, when he gets the opportunity, he will certainly take the kids out in it as well.
There are many other people, particularly within the Canberra Centre, who cannot afford to have a separate commercial vehicle. They cannot afford to pay that money. They have to use their existing vehicle - their passenger car, if you like - for commercial purposes. From a logical point of view, once again, would it not be sensible if we worked towards serving the public and not to create problems for them?
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