100 partygoers fined for attending bush rave in Thredbo, breaching coronavirus restrictions

A national park party was busted by police in bushland near Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains on Friday, with 100 NSW partygoers copping $1000 fines.

A grim warning has come from NSW Police after attendees of a bush rave face thousands of dollars in fines.

NSW Police Minister David Elliot has cracked down hard on those who are doing the wrong thing, revealing 100 people who attended a party in the bush will face consequences.

“The NSW Police force continues its operation in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he told reporters.

“The specific focus of our operation is compliance. Compliance or individuals, or compliance for businesses. People need to understand that if they act outside the public health order, or outside the public health direction, that the NSW Police will intervene and correct that behaviour.

“In the first instance, individuals can be fined $1000, which will escalate to being arrested and possibly jailed.

“This is a very serious situation and people need to act responsibly. We‘ve seen evidence in the last 24 hours of people acting irresponsibly and those persons will be subject to fines and other police action.”

Some revellers were said to have fled the area, escaping fines.

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“This is a matter of life and death,” NSW Police Minister David Elliott has said. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi.

He said a 22-year-old woman was arrested and refused bail in relation to a continual breach of a COVID direction from the Victorian border.

Other breaches include 20 people at a private residence.

“There are no three strikes when it comes to a pandemic,” the NSW Police Minister told reporters this morning.

“And of course, those who want to flout the rules, and we have some examples of that over the course of the last 24 hours, need to know that there is a potentially six months’ jail sentence attached to what we are facing at the moment.”

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In a video shared with police on Friday, Commissioner Mick Fuller said the approach towards individuals and businesses while enforcing new health orders had been “pragmatic and fair” but it now had to end. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

The warnings come after Victoria Police deputy commissioner Rick Nugent spoke of a similar incident in Docklands, where people had been discovered at a house party and found hiding in cupboards in a bid to breach lockdown rules.

Two weeks ago in NSW, images of private parties in Bondi sparked fury amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections in Sydney. Footage of one of the parties showed someone’s home in Bondi turned into a nightclub, packed with more than 100 people.

A similar situation erupted less than a week ago in Schofields, where a police helicopter and dog squad were called in to shut down a house party that led to more than $60,000 in fines for breaching coronavirus rules.

Victoria is expected to record more than 350 cases today and several new deaths today. It is expected the number will be closer to 360 new cases, a day after Victoria recorded 300 new cases.

NSW continues to record new cases of coronavirus, but most are being traced back to known sources.