Monday mornings in Court Seven, Southport Magistrate’s Court on Queensland’s Gold Coast, is where the rubber hits the road for the local traffic-offence recalcitrant.
A visitor with any historical memory might find some faint irony in the Court’s location in Hinze Street, which is considered the legal district of Southport. Russ Hinze served as Queensland Minister for Main Roads and Minister for Police in a long career often described as “colourful”, but died before eight charges of corruption he was facing could be brought to court.
Today, re-offending, failing to pay fines on time, seeking hardship mitigation – or occasionally even trying it on with a “Not Guilty” plea – are all grist for the mill of the no-nonsense magistrates and also for the steely-eyed young prosecutors from the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads.
During 2024, an increase in the numbers of those seeking to plead “not guilty” to charges of “not wearing a seat belt correctly”, following detection by new camera technology, meant for a time that a magistrate in Court Seven would provide an introductory preamble pointing out:
This is a clear message to those who are charged that the matter will be brought to swift, and almost certainly a less expensive conclusion if the charge is accepted and the fine paid (currently $1209 plus court costs). Indeed, if anyone would like to challenge the ‘accuracy’ of the cameras that produced the image, they must inform the prosecution by filling out an ‘intention to challenge or dispute’ form in........