Streets littered with liberties lost

“I’ll never be affected by abuse of civil liberties: it won’t happen to me”. But, as Susan Carty explains, you can be accused and convicted on an Australian street – even when innocent – if someone whose identity is kept secret reports youfor littering, maliciously or by mistake. Then how do you prove you are innocent?

When did my right to be presumed innocent disappear? When did my right to face my accusers get taken away? When did the inalienable rights that I thought were secure dissolve into nothing so that I am now at the mercy of any person who, for any reason, can turn my life upside down with no consequences to them for making a false or erroneous report.

I have read articles and heard news stories about the erosion of civil liberties in Australia. I have seen people vilified and accused of terrorism and of ‘queue jumping’. I have heard of laws that allow police to stop and search and to detain people without having to show just cause. I have stood by and watched while our government intervene in the lives of people purely because of their race.

Of course I was indignant and suitably disgusted, but I went about my ordinary daily business secure in the thought that it was ‘other people’ who were affected by these issues, not ordinary people like me. I am a law abiding and respectful member of our society; my rights are safe I thought. Recently I have been compelled to think again.

About one month ago, I was issued with a $235 fine from the EPA Vic for an offence which I did not commit; throwing a lighted cigarette butt onto the roadside. The infringement notice informed me that a member of the public, an EPA officer or a police officer had reported me and went on to give information about how to pay. If I did not commit the offence, I was provided with an appropriate space on the document to write the name of the person who did.

If I wanted to contest the fine I was required to submit a Statutory Declaration with supporting evidence as proof that of my innocence. The Stat Dec alone, I was informed, did not mean the case would be dropped. According to the notice, I could comply and pay the fine or be prepared to face the possibility of incurring further fines and court costs in the region of $4500.

I was to be given no access to information about the evidence that had been submitted or how many witnesses there were against me.

I was stunned at the intimidating nature of the notice. I felt absolutely powerless.

After much worry, anxiety and grief over the extremely onerous predicament I found myself in, I was of a mind to simply pay the fine and end the matter. I had, at that time, many other issues I was dealing with not least of which was the failing health of my elderly mother. I was not feeling very strong and the possibility of having to defend myself in court against an unseen enemy seemed too terrible to contemplate. However, I eventually decided to write a Statutory Declaration and state my innocence. I simply could not bring myself to acquiesce when I knew I did not commit the offence. I could not pay my hard earned money out to a bully just because I wanted to get them off my back.

After submitting the Stat Dec, I got a letter from EPA Vic informing me that they had reviewed my case; decided not to pursue the matter and that the case was now closed. No information has been given to me as to why they have decided to no longer proceed and there has been no hint of an apology.

I have had a false accusation made against me which has caused me a great deal of unnecessary anguish. I have been bullied and threatened with little opportunity to defend myself. I have had no access to any information about the nature of the accusation or the subsequent dropping of the charge.

And now I am supposed to simply fade away and feel lucky that my worst fears did not eventuate. I am now left with a profound feeling that I have lost something very precious to me – my rights.

– Susan Carty, CLA member, Melbourne, Victoria, May 2010