Russian diplomats have refused to pay hundreds of overdue speeding, parking and traffic fines dating back more than 15 years, frustrating Australian officials who can only politely ask that they respect local laws.
Freedom of information documents obtained by Guardian Australia indicate the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) is chasing almost $90,000 from the Russian embassy for fines dating back to 2007, despite repeated requests for diplomats to respect the law.
Dfat’s chief of protocol, Ian McConville, wrote to the Russian ambassador, Alexey Pavlovsky, in late 2022, politely urging him to pay the fines and warning the number of offences could soon be publicly disclosed under FOI laws.
“As you are aware, road safety is a matter of significant community concern in Australia,” Conville said.
“We would would also appreciate it if you could remind staff and their dependents of their responsibility under article 41.1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to respect Australia’s laws and regulations”.
Foreign officials have diplomatic immunity in Australia and cannot be taken to court for traffic offences and overdue fines. But road authorities can issue demerit points and suspend licences, with Dfat able to stop the transfer of registrations until fines are paid.
The documents indicate the Russian diplomats now have more outstanding fines than Saudi diplomats, who enraged Canberra police with brazen and dangerous driving in recent years.
A backlog of hundreds of outstanding fines issued to Saudi diplomats no longer exists, documents show. This may be because they were paid or because infringements can be withdrawn if offending diplomats have left the country.
In 2018, the Canberra Times reported a Saudi diplomatic drove past Parliament House at 135km/h at 2am without a valid licence, before blaming his behaviour on a lack of antibiotics. “Not happy,” was how Conville’s predecessor, Chris Cannan, described his reaction at the time.
The FOI documents show Nepal still has outstanding traffic infringements from 2007, while Romania has dozens of infringements in recent years. Most embassies only have a handful of outstanding infringements.
Conville also wrote to the ambassadors of Cyprus, China, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, PNG, Jordan, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the USA, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Taiwan, Tonga, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Algeria, Bhutan, and the UK.
In some instances, Conville urged the ambassadors to counsel diplomats about their responsibilities while driving in Australia. The documents suggest that, in some cases, this had little impact.
An ACT government spokesperson said it had “no legal recourse for recovering unpaid fines from diplomats”.
“However, we exercise all available options under the provisions of ACT road transport legislation and liaise with Dfat to apply diplomatic conventions to recover these penalties,” the spokesperson said.
The issue of diplomatic immunity has been under increased scrutiny since the wife of a US government employee killed a teenage boy in the UK while driving on the wrong side of the road.
The woman had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US administration and left the country, prompting the boy’s family to launch a three-and-a-half year campaign to see her face a UK court.
The Russian embassy was contacted for comment.
