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 The Meter Maids have been a unique and integral part of the Gold Coast tourist industry for the past thirty-four years. According to Meter
Maid co-ordinator Lisa Hassan, "a Queensland Meter Maid is a beautiful young lady dressed in an eye catching gold lame bikini. She projects confidence, sophistication and independence, yet still
represents the ultimate in femininity. She is sleek, classy, carefree, sassy cheeky, but still professionally serious."
THE HISTORY
On Monday 7th December 1964
parking meters were introduced to the streets of Surfers Paradise on Australia's Gold Coast. Not surprisingly, this created uproar and protest from the local community.
Bernie Elsie - a prominent local business identity in tourism promotion - and the long running Surfers Paradise Progress Association decided that in defiance to the parking meters,
they would introduce a service that would feed the meters to ensure that motorists would not get a parking fine while visiting the popular beach resort. Thus, the Meter Maids were born.
The first ever Meter Maid was beautiful model Annette Welch. She appeared on the streets of Surfers Paradise wearing a very daring, for its time, gold lame bikini,tiara and satin sash. She
also wore a necklace of gold coins and carried a bag full of sixpences (five cent pieces).
 Her primary role was to patrol the parking meters and whenever she
saw an "expired" meter, she put a coin in it and left a card under the windscreen wiper advising motorists that they had been saved from a parking fine by a Surfers Progress Association
Meter Maid. Annette's first day on the job attracted massive media coverage both nationally and internationally. Publicity for the Meter Maids intensified when the Mayor Ern Harley
attacked the idea and branded meter feeding as illegal. However, local support considered it to be a great goodwill gimmick and the service remained.
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