Removing ticketless parking fines will take rangers back to the bad old days where they suffered broken jaws, black eyes and daily abuse for simply doing their job, said the union which represents the workers.
The NSW government is introducing legislation today which will mean councils can no longer issue ticketless parking fines even though many councils have invested hundreds of thousands of ratepayers dollars in the technology.
The NSW government will be responsible for every assault suffered by a parking ranger from now on, said Graeme Kelly OAM, General Secretary of the United Services Union.
“Everytime a parking inspector is punched, spat on or abused they’ll be able to thank the NSW government for making a difficult situation even more dangerous,” said Mr Kelly.
“We’ve had council rangers who’ve been put in comas, had their jaws broken, been spat on and abused with the most foul mouthed tirades.
“Only a few months ago a man who ran down into a parking ranger in Enmore putting him in a coma for two weeks and leaving him with life changing brain and spinal injuries was sentenced to almost two years behind bars.
“Parking rangers have a tough job and like every other worker in this state they deserve to go home each day, not end up in a coma in hospital.
“Ticketless parking allows rangers to avoid dangerous situations.
“We’ve spoken to the government about linking out council fines to the car registration system which means drivers could get a text message within minutes of getting a fine which means they could gather evidence if they wanted to challenge it.
“Councils have invested hundreds of thousands of ratepayers dollars in ticketless parking technology and now it’s just going to be junked without compensation.
“If the government is so concerned about same time notification of fines they need to do the same with speeding fines, and fines for not wearing a seatbelt, or using a mobile phone while driving.
“And what about the new point to point speeding fines on the M1? Are they going to call drivers while they’re on the road to alert them to the fact they’ve just been fined?
“Parking inspectors have a tough job, people love to hate them, and now the state government is looking for a sugar hit to bump up its popularity and is picking on them too and putting them in danger, it’s disgraceful,” said Mr Kelly.
Contact: Tim Brunero 0405 285 547