Barnaby Joyce fined $200 for Covid breach at Caltex petrol station
Less than a week after being sworn in as deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has had a run in with the law after he was nabbed not wearing a face mask.
The Nationals leader was dobbed in to Crime Stoppers by a member of the public in his home town of Armidale on Monday morning.
He was spotted without a face mask while paying for petrol after filling up at the bowser.
Police say they checked the service station's CCTV and issued a $200 fine to a 54-year-old man for breaching an order under the NSW Public Health Act.
State Emergency Operations Controller Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said it was just one of 34 Covid-19 infringement notices issued on Monday, with 16 of them infringements for failing to wear a fitted face covering.
"Police were alerted to that. They took some action. That person was apologetic and co-operative with police and an infringement notice was issued," he told reporters on Tuesday.
Mr Joyce addressed the incident during an interview with Sky News' Alan Jones.
"The other day I went into the Caltex service station, I was going to the airport, I forgot to get fuel for Vikki, fill the car up with fuel, went in, 30 seconds later 200 bucks it cost me because I didn’t wear one of these," he said while holding up a mask.
"But that’s life," he shrugged.
Zoo fined $5000 over busloads of tourists
In a separate incident on the NSW Mid North Coast, a couple is facing assault charges after they allegedly started a fight after refusing to check in to a restaurant on Monday evening.
The 43-year-old man and 27-year-old woman were told they would have to leave the Forster restaurant if they didn't sign in using the QR code.
The man punched the owner, leaving him with facial injuries and a suspected broken nose, police say.
The women allegedly bit a bystander who tried to intervene. He has bruising and bleeding to his bicep.
Meanwhile, a travel company copped a $5000 fine for taking three busloads of tourists to the Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo.
At least 76 of the 128 people on board the buses were not permitted to be outside Greater Sydney, police say.
Staff at the zoo refused to let the visitors off the bus and called the police.
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