Advertisement

'Entitled' woman demands parent parking bays be given to wealthy shoppers

The author behind a particularly crude letter printed in a Melbourne newspaper has pushed the buttons of hundreds of readers after she expressed her disgust at the placement of parenting bays in shopping centre car parks.

In the letter that appeared in Melbourne’s Herald Sun on Tuesday, Diana Davenport from Toorak, an affluent inner city suburb, asserted her view that wealthy people should take priority over parents in parking closest to the entrance.

“While visiting my local supermarket I was disgusted to find the best parking spaces nearest the door are now reserved for so-called ‘Parent and Child parking’,” the letter read.

“If you are fit enough to produce offspring, you should jolly well be able to walk across a car park into the supermarket.

“The best spaces should be reserved for people with the most expensive cars.

Letter to Herald Sun published Tuesday from Diana Davenport complaining about parenting bays at a Melbourne supermarket.
The letter, considered by some to be a joke, asked for parent parking to be re-allocated to wealthy shoppers. Source: Herald Sun

“It is us who are likely to spend the most money in the supermarket, and to have the most shopping to carry back to our cars.”

The questionable morals highlighted in the letter, understood to be an attempted joke, sparked both fury and humour after a photo of it was shared on social media.

“I think it’s more about protecting kids than an entitlement, (it’s) common sense... I would hate to walk three young kids through a huge car park unnecessarily,” one person wrote in a comment.

“I don’t agree with the second part of the letter but I do agree that pram parking and family parking is unnecessary - I think there should be disabled parking and everyone else parking,” someone else said.

While the message caused quite a stir on social media, it was later revealed it wasn’t Ms Davenport’s first rodeo.

She has been writing letters to Melbourne newspapers under the alias of Diana Davenport for years according to news.com.au, often expressing views from opposing political perspectives.

Parenting car space pictured as controversial letter to Herald Sun editor from Diana Davenport emerges.
Ms Davenport wrote that wealthy people deserved prime position over parents. Source: Getty Images

In one instance in 2016 she took aim at people who were less financially fortunate, writing: “You know you’re a bogan when you have four cars that are not mobile and a home that is”.

In another letter sent in a few months later and withheld from print, Ms Davenport wrote a nasty letter complaining about a charity motorbike ride.

“I had the misfortune to be stuck in traffic gridlock caused by the motorcycle rider’s Xmas Toy Run. I have never seen so many middle aged misfits with no teeth and tattoos,” she wrote.

A letter in January last year targeted “bogans” again, with her writing that one-day cricket at the MCG was only good for keeping them “out of the CBD”.

Searches to track down the mystery writer have yet to produce any solid evidence of her true identity.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter, download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo’s daily newsletter. Sign up here.