Barnaby Joyce cops $200 fine for not wearing face mask
Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce faces a potential challenge following the Coalition's election loss. Photo: AAP
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has been slapped with a $200 fine by NSW Police for not wearing a mask for “30 seconds” as he entered a service station.
“That’s life,” Mr Joyce said.
It was reported by Channel Nine on Tuesday morning that Mr Joyce had recently visited a petrol station in Armidale, in NSW’s northern tablelands region, but failed to wear a mask inside the shop when he went to pay.
It was reported that a witness called Crime Stoppers to report the Deputy PM.
On Sky News on Monday night, Mr Joyce admitted he been fined.
Barnaby Joyce has been issued a $200 fine by NSW Police for not wearing a mask while paying for petrol in Armidale. He was inside for less than a minute, spotted by a member of the public who called Crime Stoppers. Police went and checked CCTV and issued the fine. @9NewsAUS
— Chris O'Keefe (@cokeefe9) June 29, 2021
“The other day, I went into the Caltex service station. I was going to the airport, I forgot to get fuel for [his partner] Vikki [Campion],” Mr Joyce told host Alan Jones.
“I filled the car up with fuel, went in, 30 seconds later, $200 it cost me because I didn’t wear one of these,” he said, waving a face mask.
Mr Joyce added “that’s life”.
In a statement to The New Daily, NSW Police confirmed that they had fined a 54-year-old man for breaching the state’s public health orders.
“Officers from New England Police District attended a service station at Armidale after receiving a Crime Stoppers report in relation to a possible breach of public health orders about 8am yesterday [Monday],” a police spokesperson said.
“Inquiries revealed a 54-year-old man was not wearing a face mask while in the store. Police spoke with the man before issuing a $200 PIN for not wear fitted face covering when in indoor area of retail/business premises.”
State Emergency Operations Controller, Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said it was just one of 54 breaches of NSW public health orders on Monday.
“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 said on Tuesday.
TND has contacted Mr Joyce’s office for comment.
Mr Joyce was last week briefly forced into COVID isolation during Parliament’s question time, after fearing he was a casual contact of someone infected with the virus. He was quickly cleared.
