Kylie Lang: Just another case of ‘money talks’ in this two-speed pandemic

The case of two rich trucking magnates – one of whom who owns a $38m mansion – being fined only $1378 each for crossing the border to attend a funeral stinks and it’s yet another example of the unfairness that has defined this pandemic, writes Kylie Lang.

They are powerful men, running the country’s largest privately owned logistics company which moves everything from the food we eat to what we buy at Kmart.

But that doesn’t mean they deserve special treatment.

Terry Tzaneros, who owns a $38 million trophy home in Point Piper, is chairman of ACFS Port Logistics, and his middle-aged son is managing director.

While the Queensland Police Service has declined to say why the pair was issued border passes from Covid-ravaged Sydney, it has confirmed both men were fined for breaching the conditions of those passes by attending a family funeral.

Terry and Arthur Tzaneros and family at the funeral of Barbara Tzaneros.

Thousands of Queenslanders stranded interstate, and anyone else for that matter, might question whether the Tzaneroses needed to physically be present in Queensland.

Mr Tzaneros senior started his working life as a truck driver some 50 years ago, but if he’s not behind the wheel now why couldn’t he and his son “bed down” his company’s latest acquisition while working remotely?

I completely understand Mr Tzaneros’s wish to be there for his 93-year-old mother’s final farewell – and what’s a $1378 fine to a multi-millionaire? – but ordinary Australians are not afforded the same opportunity unless they’ve been lucky enough to get the nod from the Queensland Government.

Frankly, that stinks and it’s yet another example of the unfairness that has defined this pandemic.