Driver threatened with $800 fine for sleeping in his van on the Gold Coast

A hardworking Australian who was threatened with an $800 fine for sleeping in his van has criticised his local government for targeting the most vulnerable in society during a cost of living crisis.

Film set builder Paul Tyler52, says the Gold Coast is the biggest offender when it comes to fines after he was recently handed a hefty penalty.

Tyler, who has been living and working in his van for four and a half years, was sleeping in a parking lot and wasn’t disturbing anyone when he heard a knock on the door of his vehicle.

Gold Coast Council staff and police officers introduced themselves and asked him why he was in his van and why he was sleeping there.

Even though Tyler works full time in the regionHe was threatened with a fine of more than $800 if he was caught sleeping in his vehicle within the municipal area again.

“The fine for sleeping in your van used to be $667, now it’s over $800,” he said.

“Why are they targeting people sitting in their vans, people sleeping in their cars, and then giving them such a ridiculous fine?

‘You target people who do it harder than others, and then you give them huge fines.

Paul Tyler, who was threatened with an $800 fine for sleeping in a van, has criticised his local council for targeting the most vulnerable members of society during a cost of living crisis

The 52-year-old film set builder says the Gold Coast is the biggest offender when it comes to fines, after he was recently threatened with the hefty penalty

‘And the Gold Coast is the worst of all the places I’ve stayed.’

The travelling artist told Daily Mail Australia the hefty $800 fine would “hit everyone” – but especially those who are struggling.

“I don’t need help, but there are other people who are worse off. And what does it do for them?” he said.

‘I can take care of myself, but others can’t. The fine only creates bigger problems.

“Where is their moral compass?”

Tyler said his job building sets takes him to different locations where he has to stay for months at a time, so living in his van is flexible and economically feasible..

“I can’t find short-term rentals, the prices are outrageous,” he said.

‘I would like to stay in Queensland, I would like to rent and stay here, but I have no ongoing employment. I also have no rental history.’

Tyler once owned his own home and three successful businesses, but they all went bust in late 2017.

Tyler, who has been living and working in his van for four and a half years, was sleeping in a parking lot and wasn’t disturbing anyone when he heard a knock on the door of his vehicle

He eventually got back on his feet when he went to work in New Zealand, but then Covid hit and he moved back to Australia, where he bought a van out of ‘necessity’.

And now that the cost of living has risen dramatically, Tyler said living in a van has become more expensive than it used to be.

“Everyone always tells me, ‘You must be saving a lot of money living in your van,’ but sometimes I wonder where my money is going,” he said.

‘Even in a van you notice that prices are going up, just like fuel and groceries. They have gone up a lot since Covid.’

Tyler said he had been threatened with fines for sleeping in his van on the Gold Coast before, and in 2021 he was fined more than once.

“I wasn’t on the beach, I was across the highway in the bushes,” he said.

“When the council and the police come, they warn you, the police take pictures of your van. They document you completely and then tell you that your vehicle is marked,” he said.

“Two weeks later I was fined $667.”

The artist never had any trouble sleeping in his van in other cities along Australia’s east coast (pictured in the Blue Mountains, NSW)

Tyler said he was caught again weeks later and given another $667 fine. The city worker said, “Every time I see you, you’re going to get a fine.”

“I’ve stayed on every beach and in every town along the east coast of Australia, all the way to Cape Tribulation, multiple times,” he said.

‘So I know what councils are like with vans. And the Gold Coast is the only place in Australia that’s chasing vans.

‘A police officer and a municipal employee in two separate vehicles, driving around together.’

The travelling artist told Daily Mail Australia the hefty $800 fine would ‘hit everyone’ – but especially those who are struggling

Tyler said the council uses the threat of fines to force people to pay to sleep at their caravan parks, but they are too expensive.

“It’s over $50 a night for a place without power. All I get is a shower, but showers are easy to find elsewhere,” he said.

A spokesperson for the City of Gold Coast said the council is trying to create public spaces that are both safe and accessible ‘for all residents, visitors and businesses’.

“People caught camping illegally or sleeping in vehicles on roads or in parks are first given information about suitable sleeping places before being asked to leave,” they added.

“If the person is a repeat offender, a fine may be imposed. The city provides safe and legal camping sites in our tourist parks.

The council further said that if someone is homeless, a public space contact person ‘will help them find suitable and sustainable housing’.

They noted that reports of illegal camping and homelessness have increased by 40 percent over the past three years.

Federal Member for Moncrieff, Angie Bell MP, told Daily Mail Australia the fine is indicative of a wider housing problem.

“I feel for everyone who is forced to live in their car, especially the children,” she said.

‘Ultimately, they pay the price for Labor’s failure to deliver adequate housing – at state and federal level – and for its failure to tackle its own inflation.’

Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek told Daily Mail Australia the current situation, where people are forced to live in their cars, is a failure of the state.

“While this is a City of Gold Coast enforcement issue, the housing crisis has been caused by a Labor state government that has overseen a large decline in land allocations, refused to work with the social housing sector and allowed a small increase in the number of social housing units available compared to the need in our community,” he said.