Melbourne birthday party reported to police

A Melbourne playwright has posted on social media about calling the police on his neighbours for hosting a birthday party.

A Melbourne playwright has posted on social media about calling the police on his neighbours for hosting a birthday party.

“I just saw some people arriving at a neighbour‘s house for a birthday party – carrying presents and food/drinks. Do I report them?” Keith Gow wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

In a follow-up tweet, he wrote, “Yes, I reported them. Had to go back and get the exact address. They are a couple of streets away. Looked like other visitors had also arrived, when I walked past again.”

Asked how he did it, Gow said he “called the local police station but there‘s also an online reporting tool”. ”I didn’t know until I had to do it,” he wrote. ”I knew not to call 000 but other than that, no clue.”

Many people were supportive. “Some people do not care – they are the ones that make life so difficult for the rest of us,” one person replied. ”Yes, report them.”

But another wrote, “This is why we will lose all our freedoms. Because if most people are given a choice between freedom and the pleasure of snitching on others, they will choose snitching.”

Under Melbourne‘s stage four restrictions, social gatherings are strictly prohibited.

“You cannot have visitors to your home,” the Department of Health and Human Services website says. ”You cannot make social visits to friends and family. You must stay home.”

People can only leave home for four reasons – shopping for food and essential items, medical care or caregiving, exercise, and “permitted work” if they can’t work or study from home.