It sounds at first listen, all so plausible, at least until one thinks about it. Road traffic fines, such as speeding, hurt people on low income more than those who are billionaires. So, in the name of equality, have a system like Finland where fines are based upon income! Here is their case and after that I take it apart:
"In Australia, motorists are penalised based on a flat rate depending on the driving offence.
'The current system places a disproportionate burden on low-income drivers; a billionaire can pay a $200 fine far more easily than can a pensioner,' the report read.
'Fines thus 'effectively criminalise poverty' while serving as a 'mere slap on the wrist' for wealthy drivers.
'This disparity undermines the principle of proportionality of justice, which requires the punishment for a crime should be commensurate to the severity of the offence.'
The Australia Institute research manager and report co-author Alice Grundy explained traffic fines forced low-income earners to choose between buying essential items or paying the penalty.
Meanwhile, the same fine only posed a 'minor annoyance' for Australians in the high-income bracket.
'For a person on a low income, speeding fines can be crippling,' Ms Alice Grundy said.
'Having a billionaire pay the same $200 speeding fine as a low-income earner is unfair.
'Proportional speeding fines are more equitable because they ensure the size of the fine is set based on a driver's income.
'Australia's regressive speeding fine system effectively criminalises poverty.'
The report used income data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics latest Survey of Income and Housing to demonstrate the income-based penalty system.
A driver who has no dependents and lives in Woollahra - one of Sydney's wealthiest suburbs - caught exceeding the speed limit by 11km/h would be fined $361 under the existing system.
However, under the proportional system, the same driver would be fined $508 as their monthly disposable income of $4,990 places them int he second highest income category.
By comparison, a driver with three dependents in Blacktown - one of Sydney's lower income suburbs - would be fined $75 based on their monthly disposable income of $1,898 and number of dependents.
The report also highlighted the damaging consequences of the current system to low-income earners.
It cited the example of Yamatji woman Ms Dhu who died in 2014 while in custody in Western Australia because she was unable to pay her $1,000 fine.
The report noted a distressing example of a First Nations woman who died in 2014 while in custody in Western Australia because she couldn't pay $1000 in fines.
'While Australian states no longer send fine defaulters to prison... fines can still represent a serious setback for low-income earners,' the report read.
'Accrued unpaid fines can trigger a vicious circle, whereby a criminal record or enforcement actions such as a cancelled car registration or driver's licence leads to a reduced ability to work and pay fines.'"
The problem with this communist proposal, is exactly the same with all such communist proposals, namely that there is a very slippery slope to doom entered upon. Once issues of equity came into justice, where does it stop? Poor people will be adversely affected by all punishments, so by this line of reasoning, all penalties for all crimes should be based upon these sorts of equity income issues. And before you know it you do not have a justice system at all. Equality before the law disappears. Further, the low-income earners are more likely to have traffic violations, so in a way the fines keep them in line. And billionaires usually are driven and do not need to drive.