Tech company CEO is among four high-powered mates who snuck into Queensland from Sydney on a $20,000-a-day superyacht to watch a rugby union test match – with the group fined a measly $4,000 each
- Four men fined for more $4,000 each after allegedly lying on border passes
- Left Covid-ravaged Sydney via yacht on July 7 and sailed to the Gold Coast
- Travelled to Brisbane to watch rugby union Test between Australia and France
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A technology company CEO is one of four men fined after sneaking into Queensland from Covid-riddled Sydney on a superyacht to watch a rugby test on the Gold Coast.
Jeromy Young and friends left Newport on Sydney’s northern beaches on his 34.5 metre charter superyacht Dreamtime on July 6. Authorities said the party sailing north, crossed the border and docking the following day.
The men then allegedly declared on their border passes they hadn’t been in a Covid hotspot before going straight to the Australian Wallabies rugby union Test match against France at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
Queensland Water Police and Maritime Safety officers tracked the group down several days later.
Jeromy Young, the CEO of tech company Atomos and owner of the superyacht, was fined $4,000
Four men have been fined after they sailed Sydney to Queensland on charter superyacht Dreamtime, pictured moored at Southport Marina
Mr Young, the CEO of the ASX-listed audio-visual business Atomos, is now in hotel quarantine on the Gold Coast with the rest of his party.
Each of the men have since tested negative to Covid-19, Queensland authorities said. They have been fined more than $4000 each.
Daily Mail Australia approached both Mr Young and his company’s press contact for comment.
‘The message is clear, if you have been in a COVID-19 hotspot and you cross our maritime border, you will be intercepted and face the consequences,’ Maritime Safety general manager Angus Mitchell said.
The state’s Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeannette Young, had declared the Greater Sydney area a COVID-19 hotspot backdated to June 21 when the outbreak escalated.
The maritime agency warned it will ‘rigorously challenge any vessels planning to enter Queensland waters.’
The alleged border hoppers from Sydney travelled to Queensland to watch the Australian Wallabies (pictured) come from behind to defeat France in Brisbane last Wednesday
Gold Coast Acting Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman told reporters he was disappointed the alleged border hoppers potentially put Queenslanders at risk.
‘The majority of people do the right thing, but the ones who don’t are putting the Gold Coast community at risk,’ he said.
‘It’s disappointing and it’s another reminder for people entering Queensland that they must follow the directives of the Chief Health Officer in Queensland.’
The superyacht remains docked at Southport Marina.
Prices to charter the vessel start from $18,000 per day, according to the Ocean Alliance website.
The charter left Newport on Sydney’s northern beaches on July 6 and arrived on the Gold Coast the next day, where the men travelled to Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium
The 34.5 metre superyacht Dreamtime (pictured) costs more than $18,000 a day to charter
The yacht was one of three sailing vessels which arrived on the Gold Coast from the Covid-ravaged Sydney last week.
A second yacht skipper, 68 is also now in hotel quarantine and issued with a $4003 fine while third skipper was fined and ordered to turn around at the border.
The lockdown of Greater Sydney and surrounding regions will likely be extended beyond Friday after NSW recorded 112 new cases on Monday, its highest number of daily new cases in 15 months.
A further 89 cases were reported on Tuesday.