Residents in Australia's Northern Territory paid almost $50,000 in fines for swearing last year

Residents in Australia's Northern Territory are a foul-mouthed lot who have been fined close to $50,000 for their poor vocabulary, according to new figures released by the NT Justice Department. Of the 3,388 summary infringement notices issued in the 2013-14 financial year, 461 were for using “offensive language”.

And Territorians’ loose tongues cost them $48,372 in fines. Territorians had a variety of reasons for swearing and for trying at times to keep it clean. “I find those words slip into my vocabulary even when they shouldn’t,” said local man Jack Bullen. “I think the heat contributes to people being more aggressive, but swearing isn’t really a sign of aggression. It’s more a communication tool.”



Mr Bullen, who has not yet been charged for using profanity in public, says there is a time and a place for it. “I can’t swear in front of my mum,” he said, later admitting that it does enter “most sentences” around friends. “When I’m working and people are paying me, (the cursing) goes down. I can control it when I’m paid to do so.” Some residents said they had no idea letting loose a foul-mouthed tirade could cost them a fine.

Others just didn’t give a shit. The Justice Department could not say how much of the $48,000 in swearing fines was actually paid. In 2012-13, a total of 605 people were issued infringements for bad language in the street - 482 were fined and 123 prosecuted. That was more than 30 per cent up on the previous financial year’s total of 412 people, with 298 fined and 114 taken to court. In 2011-12 just 352 people were fined or prosecuted, 390 in 2010-11 and 465 in 2009-10.