Why this councillor is taking her OWN council to court 07:11

Now, we all hate parking tickets, right? We all hate them. And I've spoken at length about how I think the ticketless parking fines, I think they're unfair. I don't think it's fair that you are not allowed to gather evidence to mount a defence to a parking fine if you're only told of that fine four weeks later when you receive it in the mail or on your Service NSW app or whatever.

Well, there is a Georges River councillor who took her own counsel to court over this exact same thing. Ash Ambihai-Pahar is that councillor, and she's on the line for us. Ash, g'day. Hi, thanks for having me, Chris. You're very welcome. Now, tell us the story. Where did you get the ticket, or the ticketless parking fine, I should say, and what were the circumstances?

So like my story isn't unique. It was last year, it was a rainy day and my car, the front screen window was starting to fog up pretty bad. So when I put my air con, it made it a bit worse and it wasn't actually, you know, relieving the fog fast enough where I couldn't actually see through my window.

So I felt unsafe to continue driving, so I pulled over, as it was a safe thing to do. Where were you? It was in Hursall, so I pulled over, put my hazards on. And when the window started to clear up, I noticed that it was a pole. It had a no-stopping sign, but it was bent completely in the other direction. So I was there for a few seconds, and then once it was safe for me to drive so I could see, I took off.

Now, about four weeks later, I get a fine in the mailbox. And I was trying to figure out where I was, check my diary. It's like, oh, yeah, I remember this. I was in Herschel because I pulled over because I couldn't see. Check my dash cam in my car. The footage is obviously overridden because it's four weeks later. And I was trying to get footage there to help substantiate my circumstances to challenge it. So I contested it, right, with revenue. How much was it? It was like nearly $240. Wow.

And so I tried to contest it and they denied it. So I took it to court and I was successful. But the problem here, Chris, is challenging it with counsel, writing a letter,

Getting what evidence you could get, you know, spending half a day at the local courthouse. I mean, who has the time for this? Like most people would have just paid the fine. And I don't think that's fair. We're in a cost of living crisis. Not everyone can afford to pay a fine when they're denied an opportunity to actually collect evidence. You know, four weeks later, it's quite important to have the ticket issued in a timely manner. So how long were you pulled over for?

Probably like 10 seconds, 15 seconds. Who was the ranger that pinched you for that? It was a Georgia's River Council ranger, obviously. But when they drive by, it's like a 10-second footage...

So it's about three seconds footage. You can see my car. My hazard lights are on. You can see the white on my windscreen. So I get pinged for that. And when I tried to challenge it, they're like, oh, you know, you could have parked further down. I said, mate, I'm not driving anything further. It's not safe for me to drive further, right?

So that was the issue. So Revenue NSW, you went to Revenue NSW and said, hey, look, I've contested this. They said, forget it, like they usually do. Just sent back the pro forma saying pay the fine. And you what? You went to ACAT, did you? No, I just went and took it further to the local court and challenged it. So how did you win?

So I gave my evidence of my version of events, right? Now, legally, the onus is actually on council to provide the evidence, right? But for me to substantiate my circumstances, I had to just give a statement, which was sufficient. But what I'm trying to say here, Chris, it's taken the amount of time to try and offset that $240 to justify what had happened. It's

It's not right. It's not fair. And for four weeks, for something to come in your mailbox to try and gather the information together to help substantiate your circumstances, it's not fair. Um,

Why are they doing drive-by ticketing? As a councillor at George's River, can you not raise the fact that rangers in their cars driving by, pinching people who were there for five seconds, are not doing a community service? That is very ordinary behaviour on behalf of the ranger. Let's be completely frank about this. It is. Well, I think there's a broader issue here, Chris.

This ticketless parking system, so to speak, was introduced under the previous Liberal National Government, right? And this allows councils, not just about GRC, this is a broad issue in New South Wales where councils can issue fines without providing that immediate notice.

I'm anti them. I hate them. And I agree entirely, except it's up to Georgia's River Council whether or not they wanted to adopt the ticketless parking regime. Clearly, that's something that you're fighting with your other councillors on, is it?

Well, the other thing is in April this year, I put a notice of motion. Georgia's River Council, I'm actually proud they're making some changes though because what we put to the councils who all agreed on it is that they will prioritise issuing on-the-spot

fines where it's safe and legal to do so. There are other councils across New South Wales which are not budging on this. I mean, this is a personal view of mine, not my council's. This is my personal view. We need to urge all councils to work in a collaborative way to find a solution to actually make it transparent and fair when it comes to notifying the issuance of parking fines. That's it. It's finding that balance on the issue.

I agree with you on one point. I disagree with you. I don't think there is a balance. I think the rangers should have to pull up. The rangers should have to get out. The rangers should have to take the photos and put the ticket under the windscreen wipers. Why has that changed? So what we've done at George's River Council is basically say where it's safe and legal to do so because, you know, my background is an industrial employment lawyer as well. You're looking at WHS concerns, which was something that was brought up. If it's not safe, don't book people.

Correct. And that's what we've done. Don't just drive past and book them. I find that just highly offensive. No, absolutely. And look, I think one of the challenges I have created as a councillor, I presume what the community expects of me is to make council accountable and transparent and fair, which is what I'm trying to do here. All right. Well, you've got a council election coming up in a few weeks. Are you one of the lucky Labor candidates that doesn't have a Liberal running against you? Absolutely.

Absolutely. You know, honestly, it is quite funny. Like, you know, full bed on Tuesday night, I actually thought it would be funny if the Liberals didn't lodge their paperwork on time, and here we are. But seriously...

This is quite embarrassing for the Liberal Party. How can people have confidence in the party if they can't get their paperwork done? But if we put politics aside, my personal view, I think it's very disappointing and it's actually quite bad for the Liberal candidates, the Liberal members and most importantly, the voters who've been robbed

of their choice to vote for the Liberal Party. Ash, just get the Rangers to get out of the car and put the tickets on the win screen. All the best. I'll keep trying. Thanks, Chris. She wins in court. Ash Ambihai-Pahar. She's a Georges River councillor.