In what may be the most Queensland story of the year, a local mum has been left scratching her head after being told her own legal name was too controversial to be printed on a number plate.
Indica Bradford, a Sunshine State resident with a name more commonly found in dispensaries than baby name books, says she was crushed after Personalised Plates Queensland (PPQ) refunded her deposit and rejected her application for custom plates bearing her first name.
“I’ve been planning this since I got my licence,” Indica told A Current Affair, possibly while sipping chamomile tea and definitely not sparking up anything illegal. “Everyone has personalised plates and I could get my full name because it’s so unique. I was really excited.”
After confirming over several years that INDICA was still available (possibly due to others being less keen to broadcast a botanical classification of cannabis), Indica finally pulled the trigger. She bought a new car, put her chosen plates on lay-by, and waited for her custom dream to become Queensland highway reality.
Then came the buzzkill.
PPQ refunded her money, called her up, and delivered the bad news: Indica had been rejected. The reason? The Department of Transport and Main Roads had deemed the name inappropriate, saying it could be interpreted as promoting illegal drugs or criminal activity.
Which, to be clear, was a surprise to Indica, who has spent her entire life thinking her name was simply a pretty word her mum liked. “She loved it for years,” Indica explained. “She finally had me and named me the name she loved.”
Neither mother nor daughter had any idea it had a… greener meaning.
“I think the majority of Australia would probably be the same. They wouldn’t even know what it meant,” she said, perhaps optimistically.
To be fair, Sativa Bradford probably would’ve had the same issue.
Despite the bureaucratic bummer, Indica isn’t backing down. “I’m not trying to offend anyone. It’s just my name, yeah, my legal name, on my birth certificate,” she said, clutching her paperwork and likely resisting the urge to add a middle name like “TotallyLegal”.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads replied with a characteristically dry statement about how personalised plate content is reviewed “against several criteria” and is updated “to reflect current community and social norms”.
Translation: no weed names, even if it’s literally what your mum called you before the first ultrasound.
Still, all is not lost. The department said Indica can request a formal review, a chance for justice, or at least a small victory for people named after misunderstood plant strains everywhere.
For now, Indica is driving around incognito. But if you spot a car with “ND1K4” on the back, give her a wave.
Images: A Current Affair
