BROADCAST

SOMEONE needs to turn 2020 off at the power point and turn it back on again. It’s fair to say our planet has faced some challenges of late, with a worldwide pandemic, widespread political and civil unrest, catastrophic bushfires here in Australia, and the impending collapse of the global economy to name but a few… erm… headaches.

Amid this turmoil, the brave souls at Vicroads have been busy waging war against one of the world’s most malevolent evils: offensive number plates. Or should I say, number plates that Vicroads itself deems to be offensive.

The Victorian licensing and registration body recently formed the opinion that Portland resident Peter Hansen’s WEPN number plates were “offensive”, issued a cancellation notice, and demanded he turn them in.

Pete has had the WEPN plates on his beaut little Holden V8-powered LC Torana for 10 years. He considers the plates to be part of his car’s identity, and has a great deal of sentimental (not to mention monetary) value attached to them.

We saw mention of the situation online and called Pete for a chat, then published a story on whichcar.com.au and shared it to the Street Machine Facebook page. The yarn spread through the interwebs like wildfire, and if the opinions of the 25,000-plus people who interacted with the post are any indication, Vicroads’ barometer for what can be considered offensive is wildly on the piss.

Pete’s plight even garnered mainstream media attention, including Channel 7’s Sunrise, where journo Mark Beretta said that Vicroads needed to “wake up to themselves” and that WEPN is “a great registration plate on a great car”.

To date, Peter has followed the appeals process in the hope of having the decision overturned. However, Vicroads quashed the appeal and reinforced its belief that the number plates had the potential to be considered offensive and incite violence, stating: “The review team has agreed that the plate combination is offensive as it is a reference to violence. I am aware that you have [had] the plates on your vehicle for some time but perceptions and meanings change over time and public expectations shift.”

We contacted Vicroads to hear the story from their point of view, and they issued a statement saying: “We review number plate combinations from time to time and we occasionally recall number plates that may be deemed inappropriate or offensive. Vicroads checks tens of thousands of new number plate combinations each year to prevent offensive

I’D BE GENUINELY SURPRISED IF ANYONE OTHER THAN VICROADS HAS EVER FOUND THE ‘WEPN’ PLATES ON PETE’S TORANA OFFENSIVE

or inappropriate plates being issued. We also reserve the right to recall number plates that may later be deemed offensive, disrespectful to the law or inappropriate for display, such as plates that reference violence.”

Pete thinks it’s a case of political correctness gone mad, and it’s hard to disagree. After all, he’s had the number plates on the Torana all this time without the slightest issue.

I’d be genuinely surprised if anyone other than Vicroads has ever found the WEPN plates offensive. But even if this particular ‘fourletter word’ did cause someone to clutch their pearls, I would suggest that’s a matter for that individual to process, rather than expecting the world around them to change so as not to disrupt their delicate sensibilities.

Given 2020’s myriad ‘delights’ so far, there just might be a few more important things to be getting upset about.

Cheers, s

Broads