GREENS minister Cassy O’Connor has blamed a busy lifestyle for thousands of dollars in unpaid parking fines that sparked threats of court action and another payment just yesterday.
The Hobart City Council spent four years pursuing Ms O’Connor over 17 fines for expired parking meters and vouchers, according to Hobart Magistrates Court records.
It took until last May for Ms O’Connor, now Human Services Minister, to repay penalties imposed during 2006 and 2007.
Ms O’Connor accumulated another overdue fine more recently, despite earning a ministerial salary of $217,000 a year and having access to a chauffer-driven car for official duties since last April.
She said yesterday she was alerted to the latest unpaid $337 only after The Examiner contacted her.
She denied the total of fines and late fees reached as much as $20,000 but said she had lost track of how much she had repaid.
“I pay them as I go but sometimes I forget to pay,” she said.
…
“Of course I respect the rules, the fines have been repaid.”
She had not received a parking fine for “many, many months”.
