COVID-19 Laws to be made more clear before police enforcement

A top Queensland police officer has admitted cops will not be taking action against those breaching obscure social distancing regulations, saying the new laws are too confusing and need clarifying before “direct enforcement action” can be taken.

ONE of Queensland’s top police officers has conceded new rules around social distancing are confusing with more clarification needed before they can start fining people.

Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said today that until the rules were made clear to the community, “We will not be taking direct enforcement action”, unless police were already permitted to.

However, Police can currently fine Queenslanders who are outside with more than their family or more than one other person.

Further, no one other than the regular occupants of a household are allowed in your home unless they’re visiting a family member or there to provide support.

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“As we work through these ones, around how many people can be inside houses and how many can be outside and where ... we will clarify that, we will make it absolutely crystal clear to the community so they understand it,” Mr Gollschewski said today.

“We understand there is a lot of confusion around some of these things when they’re announced.

“It takes sometime for us to work through to get the very clear messaging around what people should and what’s expected of them.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said “The key point of the two person rule is for outside”.

Asked whether someone could have 10 people inside, the Premier said she would clarify that.

This is despite the Federal Government having ruled no more than two people were allowed inside, unless they lived there or were considered essential.

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young also issued a directive on March 29 dictating the home confinement requirements, which says “groups of more than two persons who are not members of the same household” are prohibited “from gathering in any place except for permitted purposes”.

The Deputy Commissioner said Queenslanders could be “rest assured that we won’t be knocking on their door when they’re having dinner and looking to see who’s over ... that is not what were about”.

“We will clarify before we get to an enforcement stage,” he said.