People going to 40 Mirrabooka Avenue, Mirrabooka, will find the Department of Transport. But people going to 40 Mirrabooka Avenue, Koondoola, will find the home of Mr and Mrs McCarthy.
Motorists have been arriving at the McCarthy’s family home expecting to find the Department of Transport, a few hundred metres down the road, for several weeks.
Mrs McCarthy said she and her husband were tired of directing confused drivers to the correct address.
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READ NOW‘When it first started we were getting six a day or more. They were just pulling up outside and then some came into the driveway and then a motorbike pulled up and I thought ‘oh my God, I’ve got to do something about this’, because it was a bit too much; it could have just gone on,’ Mrs McCarthy said.
‘My husband has got a bad heart and I’ve got a bad leg. We’ve had some nice people who have been very apologetic but we’ve had others just sit in the driveway and wait for us to come out to them.’
Mrs McCarthy said it was not the first time there had been a mix up involving the office area in Mirrabooka. Chemist deliveries, including medication, arrive at the house sporadically.
‘Occasionally we get someone pull up, stop and say ‘this isn’t the chemist?’ and I’ve got to redirect them all the time,’ she said.
A Department of Transport spokeswoman said senior department representatives met the McCarthy family last Thursday to apologise for the inconvenience.
The spokeswoman said the problem occurred when people did not specify the suburb when digitally mapping the address.
‘Using ‘Google Maps’ or a GPS and searching for ’40 Mirrabooka Ave’ alone only auto-returns the suburb as Koondoola, but does not include one for Mirrabooka,’ she said.
‘The change will be added to the department’s website overnight and will be monitored.’
Mirrabooka MLA Janine Freeman said it was outrageous the McCarthy family could be put in this position and called on the State Government to place notices in the media to inform motorists and third parties of the situation.