Police issue fines to rule breakers

The rules will get even tighter from Monday, and Northern Rivers police have warned there are no excuses for breaking them.

EXPENSIVE SURF: Police have issued $1,000 fines to two surfers on Sunday 15 August 2021, after it was found they had ignored Covid compliance orders and left their lockdown area to go surfing. File Photo: Javier Encalada.

Two men at Lennox Head caught the most costly waves of their lives, after police handed them a $1000 fine for surfing outside their lockdown zone.

Richmond Police District Inspector Bill McKenna said a number of people had displayed poor behaviour over the weekend when they should have known better.

“Complacency and arrogance are the two things which will bring our community undone when it comes to Covid,” he said.

“These people will pay $1000 for going for a surf, they are lucky it wasn’t tomorrow (Monday) when the new rules come in and it would have cost them $5000.”

Mr McKenna said the lockdown orders have been heavily publicised and anyone travelling into the local government areas when they should be at home has no reason to complain when they are issued with a fine.

He said Police are not interested in excuses, their job is to protect the community.

“Information about what you can and cannot do under lockdown have been well distributed including on social media,” he said.

“The time for excuses is long gone.”

Mr McKenna said uniformed officers are also working with plain clothes detectives and highway patrol at Covid testing sites to ensure people are safe in the community.

“Another man from Byron Bay came to our notice when he acted abusively towards staff undertaking Covid testing at Brunswick St, Ballina, he has received a $1,000 fine and an infringement notice,” he said.

“Our medical staff do not deserve this, the Covid testing staff are doing a wonderful job under trying conditions.”

Mr McKenna the majority of the community are doing the right thing buy staying home.

“Overwhelming the local communities are abiding by the health directions,” he said.

“We do remind people when they are out exercising to maintain social distancing.”

Meanwhile, Mr McKenna said people who think they can slip by police by using back roads to move outside their lockdown area will be caught.

“The Highway patrol along with\plain clothes police are actively out and about our police district enforcing the Health Ministers' directives,” he said.

“We have RBT (Random Breath Testing) on main arterial as well as back roads, checking compliance.”