Hate all the monster utes on our streets? Your tax dollars helped pay for them

In 2004, when the length of parking spaces was last reviewed by Standards Australia, SUVs made up around 13 per cent of the national fleet. Almost two decades on, that number has ballooned to 40 per cent.

A current parking space should be 5.4 metres long. Standards Australia wants to increase that by 20 centimetres. Though the difference in length may only seem trivial, in real terms it would increase the size by roughly 4 per cent. At a shopping centre like Fountain Gate in…