Unpaid fines: Bay owes $13m and counting | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

Hawke's Bay people owe more than $13 million in unpaid fines and reparation, with some able to pay their fines through community work at up to five times the minimum wage.

Figures show Bay residents owe $13.3 million in unpaid traffic infringements filed in the Hastings and Napier District Court and $290,838 in reparation orders as of June 30 this year. This information was released to Hawke's Bay Today under the Official Information Act.

Reparation is awarded by judges for loss or harm caused by an offender to a third party.

The Government is currently processing the Courts and Criminal Matters Bill to give courts stronger enforcement measures, effectively tightening the reins on those who refuse to pay.

Last week in Napier District Court, three people were summonsed to appear for breeching community work for remitted fines. George Hawkins, 30, from Maraenui, had $23,974.57 of fines converted into 350 hours of community work in February, but was charged with breeching his community work after failing to appear.

To pay off the fines, he would be working at the equivalent hourly rate of $68.50 - roughly five times the minimum wage.

Napier MP Chris Tremain said New Zealand needed to move to enforce payment and people who repeatedly refused to pay should be jailed.

"It is an absolute joke for hard-working Kiwis to see tens of thousands of fines turned into community service where the offender is effectively paid five or six times the minimum wage to work off their sentence," Mr Tremain said.

"In my opinion, multiple repeat offenders, particularly those who fail to turn up for community service, should be jailed."

Bryre Patchell, general manager of collections for the Ministry of Justice, said currently "people who chose to try and ignore their fines face tough penalties including clamping or seizing their vehicle, seizing and selling their property, making compulsory deductions from their income or bank account, being unable to travel overseas or being issued a warrant to arrest".

The Government plans to give enforcement agencies more powers, including the ability to resentence people, releasing overdue penalty amounts to credit agencies, giving the court priority over secured creditors, introducing driver's licence stop orders and making it easier for mandatory deductions to be placed on wages or benefits.

"It's definitely a step in the right direction," said Garth McVicar of the Sensible Sentencing Trust.

"We opposed the initial bill for repeat offenders and said if there wasn't a mechanism to ensure people pay their fines, it wouldn't work."