Queensland MP says authorities need to stop charging people with trivial offences.
A Queensland truck driver’s recent run in with police is a key example of what federal parliamentarian Bob Katter sees as “pedantic pettiness” from law enforcement authorities in the state.
The Mount Isa driver was fined for having passengers unrestrained in the back of his rigid vehicle – which was decorated and about to act as a float in the annual Mount Isa Rodeo Parade.
Katter says the infringement notice was given across the road from where the parade was due to begin.
He says it is an example of police “enforcing the letter of the law, not the spirit of the law”.
“At a time when we have significant threats facing our communities, police are choosing to use their powers to charge citizens with trivial offences, rather than concentrating on real crimes,” he says.
Katter says another of his constituents had been fined for using a ride-on lawn mower on the streets of the west Queensland town of Prarie, population: 100.
He addressed Brisbane media on the issue this morning, making an entrance on a ride-on lawn mower himself.