Australia's Deputy Prime Minister has been fined $200 for breaking coronavirus restrictions in New South Wales.
It's mandatory for residents cross the state to wear a face mask when they're in a non-residential indoor location and it seems like Barnaby Joyce must have misplaced his.
The second in charge pulled into a petrol station in Armidale and ducked in without a face mask on.
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While he was only in the premises for less than a minute, someone witnessed Mr Joyce breaking the rules and promptly called Crime Stoppers to dob him in.
Authorities in the area treated the tip-off seriously and went to the petrol station to ask some questions. After looking at CCTV footage, it was confirmed that the Deputy PM was breaking the rules and they issued him a fine later on.
Deputy Police Commissioner Gary Worboys said: "That person was apologetic and cooperated with police being firm and fair. Police are rostered 24/7 right across the state and they will take action, and certainly the incident at Armidale is clear evidence that police will investigate and take action."
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Mr Joyce told Sky News Australia: "I was going to the airport, I forgot to get fuel for Vikki, fuelled the car up with fuel, went in, 30 seconds later $200 it cost me because I didn't wear one of these [a mask]. That's life."
Authorities appear to be keen to crack down on anti-lockdown behaviour and have been issuing fines left, right and centre to people not adhering to the health advice.
Greater Sydney has been placed into lockdown, as has Perth and Peel in Western Australia, parts of Queensland (the state's south-east Queensland, Townsville, Palm Island and Magnetic Island) and Greater Darwin.
The Delta variant, the highly transmissible strain of the original Covid-19 virus, has been recorded in several locations and state leaders are racing to keep a lid on it.
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In New South Wales, where the outbreak first began, there have been an additional 19 cases since yesterday after a monstrous 67,000 cases.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared the coronavirus vaccine will be mandatory for residential aged care workers and all quarantine workers, including those in transport, and their household contacts.
Following an emergency National Cabinet meeting last night (June 28), the states and territories agreed to mandate jabs for those on the frontline.
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The Prime Minister noted in his address that more than two-thirds of Australia's nearly 1,000 Covid-19-related deaths have been in aged care homes.
He said aged care workers must get their first injection by the beginning of September.
In another bid to tackle this latest outbreak, the Prime Minister has also issued a new directive for the vaccine rollout that allows anyone under 60 to get the AstraZeneca jab if they agree to the risks associated with the injection.
The Australian government banned Aussies under 50 getting that jab due to the very rare risk of blood clots. However, if people are happy to get it then they can get the vaccine from their GP once they sign a waiver.
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The federal government has introduced a new indemnity for doctors that will prevent them from being sued if a patient has an adverse reaction to the jab.
Featured Image Credit: Apple and Pear Australia Ltd (Creative Commons)Topics: Australia