7News
The last thing a mother with a sick child is thinking of doing is buying a parking ticket. Which is exactly why Perth mum Monique Garcia was horrified to discover the fine for $1000 stuck under her windshield.
Earlier in the day Monique’s son Nathan had complained of chest pains. Having had a history of heart complications Monique immediately took her son to Perth’s Princess Margaret Hospital. Preoccupied with Nathan, she didn’t buy a parking ticket.
‘(Nathan) was saying his heart was on fire,’ she told 7News.
‘It was such a slap in the face,’ Monique said of the $1000 ticket. ‘We shouldn’t be charged for having sick children… $1000 is totally unethical and extreme.’
All of Perth’s hospitals bar one issue $1000 penalties for failure to buy a parking ticket under regulations that were approved in June this year. If paid within 28 days the penalty is reduced to $200.
Following contact from 7News the Health Minister John Day ordered an immediate review.
