Now here is something to ponder not SMS etc.
Remember the TV article about the driver in Queensland
that never pays tolls. They refuse to fine or take him to court.
Well it seems that there is now a move to make a Class Action
challenge to automatic toll charges and the governments acting on
behalf of commercial companies to recover commercial debt.
It could mean all toll charges since toll collectors were removed will have to be refunded.

Stand clear of fans if this get up.

Dear Bazz,

Toll collectors have been replaced by electronic scanning.
People who use toll-ways (a toll means a payment has to
be made) those people who refuse to pay are simply stealing
and therefore there should be punitive measures involved.

You know ahead of time that if you use a service for which
payment has to be made - you're obligated to pay if you
use that service or face the consequences.

Now let's make it simple. Go into a shop take what you want
don't pay for it and walk out. See how far you're going to
get.

My younger brother from regional NSW recently visited us in
Melbourne and not being familiar with Melbourne roads ended
up on a toll way for which he got a bill in the mail - which
he paid (despite complaining profusely) and that was the end
of that.

My husband had to use a toll way - he pre-booked the trip
and a month later on his bank statement the toll was deducted
off the account.

I don't quite understand what all the fuss is about not wanting
to pay for a service that is being provided and you know
ahead of time that it costs.

I know Melbourne is a disaster area Foxy, but we are even having problems up here.

These politicians seem to think they own the roads we the motorists have paid for a dozen times over. Sticking trams, those implements of the devil, on Gold Coast roads should be a hanging, or shooting offence against intelligence.

Sticking bikeways on our roads is even more crazy, but it gets worse. We now have some sections of previously public roads, paid for by fuel taxes, now having a toll slapped on them. I refused to pay that toll a couple of years ago, when I was sent a bill, & it appears to have been dropped.

Some time back they built a bridge, doubling the capacity of an existing toll bridge. I am happy to pay those tolls, as they are to cover the cost of providing the bridge, but if they slap a toll on an existing bit of road, no matter how much upgraded, I will refuse to pay, unless a toll free road of equal quality to the original is provided.

Dear Hassie,

I understand what you're saying.

However, I was raised not to rock the boat so to
speak. So I don't bother arguing. I would just
simply pay the fines.

The point is Foxy that the constitution says that payment in the
Commonwealth has to be by coin of the realm.
There are no toll collectors and the drivers in Queensland are
prepared to pay the toll but there is no way to do so.
A very old law says that on toll roads if there is no toll collector
present the debt is forgiven.

This is the argument Mr Hurst put to the government when they used to
be billed for their trips and the government had to forgive the debt.
So I have heard they are looking for assistance to launch a class action.

A related argument is that the government does not have the power to
launch an action on behalf of a private or commercial company.
The law provides for civil courts to settle debts between private
parties and criminal courts should not be used on behalf of private companies.

This argument has been going on for a few years now and the government
has refused to act against them.

It will require a referendum to change the constitution

Dear Bazz,

What a fascinating state of affairs.

I certainly did not know anything about this matter
in the details that you've presented.

Next time I travel in Queensland does that mean
that I don't have to worry about tolls?