Good idea or bad idea? Sending back fine.

[bipolair]

Hi there,
Im backpacking in Australia and at the moment staying in a hostel where I am close with the manager.
Cause of me being stupid and an absolute drunk I managed to get a $200 fine for riding a train without ticket and another $400 fine for stumbling drunk on the rails (complete black-out).
I don't have the money to pay the fines but I'm concerned this is gonna give me trouble when Im gonna apply for my NZ Working holiday visa (which is in 1 month).
The hostel manager suggested she would just send back the fines with a notice that ít's the wrong adress and there is nobody with my name staying here.
And then might I ever encounter the police would it be a good enough excuse if I'd say I lost the tickets given out by the police (because I was drunk obviously) and simply wasnt staying for a long enough time at the hostel to receive the ticket.

Also the manager contacted the Debt office 4 days after the fine and they said they cant find the case number in the database. Would it be possible they just let me go or does it take longer to process these kinda things?

Would this be a good idea or a very bad idea?


O worth mentioning is that I did not give them a valid proof of id. I gave them my bank account card since that was the only thing I had on me and they let me away with it. I did give them my actual birthdate but they wrote my first name wrong by one letter.

This is btw the first fine I've got here in Australia as far as I know in almost 2 years travelling.
I do intend coming back in the future.

Edit:
My god I'm such a fucking tool. I just realized I actually have got an 800 dollar fine. The travelling on train without ticket fine was I thought two days before I got the other fine but apparently I also got a 2nd fine for travelling on train without ticket just hours before I got fined for walking on the railtracks. (Yep the black-out lasted pretty much throughout the whole day, I drank way way way too much obviously as I have turned into a massive alcohol lately and also didnt take my medication for two days)
Pff this all sounds massively idiotic and irresponsible and it scares me how this is gonna look for immigration.

 

[bipolair]

And I know that it is not very social to not pay the fines in a visiting country, so the forum pick is a bit ironic.
Sorry!

 

[justsayknow]

I think it does take them a while to process it. Usually if you dont pay they will send it out again with extra fees and then if you still dont pay they suspend your drivers license. I'm not sure if you have a aussie license or what consequences it will have for your trip to NZ. As far as I'm aware there arent usually criminal consequences for public transport offences.

You're in Sydney right? It looks like they have some authority to confiscate property in cases of non payment but I dont know if they would catch up with you if they have neither your ID or your correct address. It would probably take more than a month for them to process it also.
http://www.sdro.nsw.gov.au/lib/docs/misc/english_guide_FES.pdf

 

[OPP]

If it was me I wouldn't pay it. I have better things to do with $800.

It could have been anyone giving a fake name using your bank card that they found from the wallet you lost ;-)

They spelt your name wrong on the fine and may have lost the fine itself.

You didn't give them any real ID. I highly doubt an outstanding fine in Australia will affect your chances in NZ.

I had an outstanding parking fine from LA. They tracked me down through the hire car company and my passport. I never replied to the letters and wrote return to sender on them.

Fingers crossed nothing happens if I ever go back to the states. But I highly doubt it.

At the end of the day its up to you.

 

[Busty St Clare]

Are the fines overdue? I doubt you will have any problems getting into NZ , customs there will be more interested in criminal convictions than fines. Were they issued by police or just some transport security?If you skipped a court appearance that may flag alarms but otherwise I'd say it is too soon for them to be sending threatening letters. You are more likely to have problems coming back into Aus. Even then the would likely just make you pay there and then but I doubt they would even pick it up if the name does not match.