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Parton / Smile, for the broken camera!

THIS little Government of ours doesn’t have many revenue options and has to think outside the box about creating new ones.

Mark Parton
Mark Parton
Ideas range from going to the Prime Minister’s office and begging to put on more parking inspectors to selling our light poles. We race off to Singapore to convince rich Asian businessmen to invest in our fine city and we’re auctioning land left, right and centre to pump up the bank balance.

I cannot believe that at this time, when we’ll consider anything to raise a dollar, that we have so many speed cameras not working.

This is ludicrous!

I’ve had listeners to my radio program call in recent weeks making this suggestion and it was confirmed in the Legislative Assembly last week.

How long do you think it’s been since the camera on the corner of Ginninderra Drive and Coulter Drive at Florey has worked?

More than two years.

More a piece of public art than a functioning speed camera, it last captured a speeding driver nine months before the last ACT election, in January, 2012.

The one at Marconi Crescent and Drakeford Drive hasn’t worked since February last year; Hindmarsh Drive and Yamba Drive has been out of action for a similar period and the camera on the corner of Northbourne Avenue and Barry Drive is also cactus.

On a citywide basis, these cameras have the potential to raise well over $10 million a year. How could they possibly be allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair? And it’s not just the fixed cameras. Three of the five speed-camera vans are off the road.

What a shambles!

Minister Simon Corbell has suggested that sourcing replacement parts for older cameras was increasingly difficult.

What a cop out!

To make it worse, during this period we’ve spent huge amounts of money installing point-to-point cameras on Athllon Drive that will only be able to nab drivers once in a blue moon.

I’m not sure what word to use to describe all this, but it’s hard to go past incompetent.

Who can be trusted?

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Mark Parton

Mark Parton

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One Response to Parton / Smile, for the broken camera!

Alex Satrapa says: 2 July 2014 at 10:47 am

You might look at the “potential to raise $10M” and think “we’re on a winner!”

Go and look at how much it costs to run those cameras. Welcome to the money pit of technological enforcement of traffic rules.

Then compare the cost of running fixed speed cameras to the cost of another uniformed pair of feet on the beat.

Which will provide a better return on investment? Because this ROI consideration is what we have fallen to when the revenue from traffic infringement notices is assumed to be part of the future budget.

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