Queensland police bust house parties flouting social distancing rules

Following the easing of some restrictions in Queensland, cops spent the weekend busting house parties that were “blatant breaches” of government directives.

Natalie Brown

@natalieisbrown

2 min read

May 4, 2020 - 3:32PM

A number of Queenslanders, including one self-proclaimed “birfday boy”, have been slapped with fines after police busted their house parties over the weekend.

Revellers at one birthday celebration in the Gold Coast’s Carrara were issued infringements two nights in a row, with seven males between the ages of 21 and 25 issued with notices of $1334 for flouting distancing rules.

Gold Coast Police Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said police were called to another noise complaint in the same street just after midnight yesterday – where they found 12 men and six women partying, including the five who had been fined the night before.

Two of the group were from the Gold Coast, while the other 16 had travelled from Brisbane’s south.

In police footage, one of the revellers was heard asking cops, “Who do youse think you are n sh*t?”

Upon the officer asking the man, “Who do you think you are?”, he responded, “I’m the f**kin birfday boy”.

Police on the Gold Coast issued a number of fines to revellers over the weekend for flouting distancing rules. Picture: Queensland Police

Gold Coast Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said it was ‘frustrating’ to see people not adhering to virus measures. Picture: Queensland Police

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she will not hesitate to ‘clamp down’ once more on restrictions if police see widespread gatherings. Picture: Queensland Police

In another Gold Coast incident just after 9pm on Saturday, officers responded to a noise complaint and witnessed dozens of people fleeing from a house in Pimpama.

The host of the party, a 28-year-old man, was issued with an infringement notice for failing to comply with directions.

“We’ll allege that he told police there was nothing they could do about it, so he was issued a $1334 fine,” Chief Superintendent Wheeler said.

He said it was frustrating to see people blatantly flouting restrictions on each one of these occasions.

“This type of behaviour puts all Queenslanders at risk and counteracts the hard work police have been doing,” he said.

“It’s especially disappointing considering the vast majority of Gold Coast residents are doing the right thing and following the rules in line with the easing of restrictions across the weekend.

“Blatant disregard of the COVID-19 directives will not be tolerated, as has been demonstrated by fines being issued on each of these occasions.”

A further nine infringement notices were issued to a group of men and women at a birthday party in Brisbane’s Banyo on Saturday night.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk urged residents, following the announcement restrictions in the state would be eased, not to go overboard when it came to socialising.

“What we don’t want is groups of friends meeting up with other friends at this state, that’s not what we’re saying,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk said if the State Government did see mass gatherings, “I will not hesitate to clamp back down”.