Readers woke up to news of a new fines system a front page on this day in 1983. The ACT became the last state or territory to have on-the-spot traffic fines, ranging from not displaying a rego label to negligent driving.
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Some 139 offences could be covered by the new system. People would have a choice to pay a fine within 28 days or go to court.
The local commander of the AFP welcomed the system which was hoped to put more officers on patrol and less caught up in court. Staffing had been particularly tight in preceding months after the introduction of random breath testing. Oh, what a time to be alive in Canberra.
And what a time it was to live in the Valley. Also on this day plans were announced for the construction of the Erindale Centre in Wanniassa.
The centre was to be half the size of the Monaro Mall in Civic and half the size of the Belconnen Mall.
Responsibility for building Erindale Centre was handed to the Canberra Commercial Development Authority, which had been criticised for some of its work on the Belconnen Mall. But its chairman Jim Pead hit back at detractors of the government authority and said Tuggeranong residents deserved the best.
"The things uppermost in our minds will be to provide a shopping complex to serve the people of Tuggeranong and to provide a focal point for the Tuggeranong Fix this textValley, a place where the people can meet, mix and mingle."
