Fined for not voting in Council Elections ?

For all my life the only people who voted in Council Elections were home owners who pay Rates. Makes sense right ?

So sometime in the last few years the Law must have been changed to make everyone vote for Councils. Since I don't watch TV News, or read newspapers, I was completely unaware that the Law had been changed.

Friday morning I check my mailbox to find a notice from the Electoral Office saying I had 2 weeks to pay a $100 fine for not voting in my local Council elections !!!

It went on to say that if I paid the fine immediately it would only cost me $50, but will be $100 BY the due date.... which just so happens to coincide with me having to pay Rego on my motorcycle. Being on a Pension means you get paid once every 2 weeks and can only just afford to pay phone/internet connection bills after everything else is paid for too.

So I have to wonder why the Electoral Office only gives us 2 weeks to pay a fine that is huge compared to my income level. If not paid on time it will incur late fees and charges that will see it rise above $150. And then I will have to go through the SPURS system to pay the fine off... which also incurs more fees to bring the fine into the region of being $200+.

Seems to me these BASTARDS just keep finding ways to suck money out of everyone, and especially those at the bottom of the income pile... like us Pensioners.