- Proof that paying your fine is illegal Our final section, this week, confirms yet another important point that we have been telling our Members and Subscribers for the 6 and a half years that we have been around – every time you pay your fines, you are breaking the law! There was a very interesting video that went around during the week of a guy trying to pay a $60 parking fine with 5 cent pieces. In case you missed it, you can view it here - liveleak/view?i=c17_1379158304 The media, of course, jumped all over this and made out that this guy’s “stunt” backfired because the council refused his payment and made him come back and collect his coins and pay by another method - news.ninemsn.au/national/2013/09/15/15/49/man-attempts-to-pay-fince-in-5-cent-pieces What the media didn’t realise is that by printing this story, they have proven our point for us brilliantly. You see, the council was 100% correct in their stand to refuse the payment and the following breakdown will prove why anyone who tries to pay a fine over $20 is actually breaking the law. Section 115 of the Commonwealth Constitution - austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/coaca430/s115.html - dictates that “A State shall not coin money or make anything other than gold and silver coin legal tender in the payment of debts.” Please read that again – there is no reference to “paper” money, polymer notes, cheques or anything other than gold and silver coin being legal tender. So, to find out what coins we can use, we must refer to the Currency Act 1965. Specifically, Sections 9, 11, 16 and 22 apply. Sections 9 and 11 dictate that every transaction involving money must be executed in Australian currency, pursuant to the Act - austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca1965120/s9.html and austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca1965120/s11.html Section 16 confirms what Section 115 of the Commonwealth Constitution says, that money is legal tender only “if it is made in coins that are made and issued under this Act and are of current weight.” - austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca1965120/s16.html Once again, there is no reference to paper or polymer notes, cheques etc. It goes on to detail the specific amounts that can be paid with each coin. Subsection (1) (a) dictates – as the closing line of the media article correctly points out – that the maximum amount that can be paid with 5, 10, 20 or 50 cent coins is no greater than $5 – which is why the council were correct to reject the man’s payment in the video. So, the media story is 100% correct, to that point, however, as with most media stories that are fed to them by those in true power, they “conveniently” leave out the really important sections. In this case, Sub-section (1) (c) dictates that for a coin with a denomination between 50 cents and 10 dollars, ten times the face value can be paid. Given that the $2 coin is the highest denomination coin in general circulation in this country, then $20 – 10 times $2 - is the most you can legally pay on a debt to a State! The final kicker is contained in Section 22 - austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca1965120/s22.html - which dictates that “A person shall not make or issue a piece of gold, silver, copper, nickel, bronze or of any other material, whether metal or otherwise, of any value, other than a coin made or issued under the repealed Acts or under this Act or a British coin as defined by the repealed Acts, as a token for money or as purporting that the holder is entitled to demand any value denoted on it.”
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 08:59:40 +0000
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