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deathpixie) wrote2004-02-16 02:20 pm
deathpixie) wrote2004-02-16 02:20 pm
The faceless face of Eeeville.
One of my bosses handed round a newspaper clipping from the less-reputable of Melbourne's two papers (the Herald-Sun) today, detailing a report about "a single mother struggling on a pension" who's just had an appeal to the High Court refused. See, the situation is that she's racked up $15,000 in parking fines, and, not being able to pay it off, declared herself bankrupt. Several court cases later, it's been decided that PERIN fines, like regular court fines, are exempt from bankruptcy and must still be paid.
Okay, sounds a bit harsh when you put it that way, and even harsher when you read the spin put on it by the Hun. But the thing they're missing (and what the woman herself is probably neglecting to mention) is that she received 66 parking fines over a period of a couple of years. Multiply each of those 66 by three or four to cover 1) the initial ticket, 2) the courtesy letter sent by the council when the fine isn't paid, 3) the letter sent by the PERIN Court to tell her the fine has been registered with us and 4) the notice of intention to issue a warrant for non-payment, and it makes you wonder just what the hell she's been doing about these things.
You'd think after the first ten fines or so she'd stop parking in the wrong place! But no, we're the faceless evil bureaucrats hounding this poor woman and possibly making her lose custody of her son if she has to go to jail for non-payment (again, unlikely, since she has to be brough before a magistrate before that can happen, and they don't jail single mums if they can help it. They put them on payment plans).
*grrs* And you wonder why I hate working in PERIN...
Okay, sounds a bit harsh when you put it that way, and even harsher when you read the spin put on it by the Hun. But the thing they're missing (and what the woman herself is probably neglecting to mention) is that she received 66 parking fines over a period of a couple of years. Multiply each of those 66 by three or four to cover 1) the initial ticket, 2) the courtesy letter sent by the council when the fine isn't paid, 3) the letter sent by the PERIN Court to tell her the fine has been registered with us and 4) the notice of intention to issue a warrant for non-payment, and it makes you wonder just what the hell she's been doing about these things.
You'd think after the first ten fines or so she'd stop parking in the wrong place! But no, we're the faceless evil bureaucrats hounding this poor woman and possibly making her lose custody of her son if she has to go to jail for non-payment (again, unlikely, since she has to be brough before a magistrate before that can happen, and they don't jail single mums if they can help it. They put them on payment plans).
*grrs* And you wonder why I hate working in PERIN...
no subject
That's just stupidity at work, I believe.