Some motorists could end up paying more for speeding and red-light camera offences under a proposed Labor review of government fines.
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But others could end up paying less, if a Labor government adopted a plan to calculate fines on a means test.
The proposal was tabled in a motion by Keira MP Ryan Park at the party’s recent state conference where it was accepted.
The motion stated that it should be a priority of Labor “to review taxes and fines issues by state government”.
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“This is the fastest lever state government can use to prioritise equitable outcomes,” the motion said.
“This will include looking for more equitable and progressive ways to levy existing payments and fines.”
Mr Park said the proposal called on the party to examine fines “and look for ways to vary them according to people’s capacity to pay”.
He said this could apply to various government fines, including traffic offences.
“It is an opportunity to review all fines and examine their impact on the most marginal people in the community,” Mr Park said.
“For example, continually fining someone for not having a valid Opal ticket and never recovering the money anyway seems to be a poor response rather than examine an alternative arrangement.”
He said it could lead to a “fairer” system because a $109 fine could be an annoyance to some but a “devastating financial blow” to others.
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Mr Park dismissed the idea it would encourage some people to commit more offences.
“It does not in any way mean people on low incomes can just break the law but it does mean alternatives can be examined to improve behavioural change,” he said.
Mr Park did not specify examples of how much a fine could change, but Canberra think tank the Australia Institute carried out a study on means-testing fines in 2016.
The institute pointed out that Finland operated under this system and applied this model to Australian fines.
In the case of using a mobile phone while driving, the fine in NSW is $311.
Under a means-tested model, that would equate to a $71 fine for those earning $271 a week through to a $623 impost for those taking home $1474 a week.
The institute calculated that applying the Finnish model to NSW traffic fines would increase the total “face value” – and thus possible revenue – by approximately $59 million.