Victorian couple who travelled to Queensland while infected with Covid during lockdown cop a $1,000 fine each for visiting a regional CINEMA on their way
- The couple were fined $1000 each by NSW Police for attending a Dubbo cinema
- Movie-going was a breach of public health orders and ‘non-essential’
- The couple both tested positive to the virus once they made it to Queensland
- The road trip sparked fears of a Covid-19 outbreak in NSW and Qld
- Fines of $4000 each had already been handed to the couple by Qld Police
The Victorian couple whose 1,900km road trip from Victoria through NSW to Queensland sparked fears of a Covid-19 outbreak have had another fine added to their tally.
NSW Police today announced it would issue the couple with Penalty Infringement Notices (PINs) for allegedly breaching a Public Health Order as they travelled through the state earlier this month.
The pair, who were moving to Queensland for work, went to the Reading Cinema on Macquarie Street, Dubbo, on Wednesday 2 June 2021.
The visit was considered non-essential activity and a breach of the Act, drawing a fine of $1000 each.
The couple created an uproar in three states when they fled Victoria during its most recent Covid-19 lockdown on June 1 and undertook a trip through regional NSW and Queensland towns before arriving on the Sunshine Coast on June 5.
A couple who fled Victoria during its strict Covid-19 lockdown and went on an interstate road trip into Queensland has now been fined by both Queensland and NSW police
The Victorian couple’s visit to the Reading Cinema on Macquarie Street, Dubbo, on June 2, drew the fines of $1000 each from NSW Police.
Victorians were not permitted to travel more than five kilometres from home at the time the couple left for their trp.
The woman, 44, then tested positive to the virus on June 9. Her husband, 48, was confirmed to have contracted the virus the next day.
Queensland Police later revealed the couple deliberately provided false information to the state’s authorities on their border declarations.
The couple have both been fined $4,003 for breaching the Queensland chief health officer’s directions but avoided the maximum penalty of six months in jail.
More than 400 Queenslanders were forced into self-isolation as a result of the couple’s visit to venues at Goondiwindi, Toowoomba and the Sunshine Coast.
One NSW hotelier in Forbes, NSW, said she lost $7000 in takings on State of Origin night when she had to shut the pub for deep cleaning after the couple’s visit.
‘A lot of people are furious,’ Today show host Karl Stefanovic said of the couple when their trip was revealed.
‘They have to throw the book at these people. They have to. I’m not averse to naming and shaming. We have to get this message through.’
The Queensland Police Service was expected to serve the PINs on the couple on behalf of NSW Police today.