ROAD TO RECOVERY Call for border liars to be thrown in jail

THREE men who allegedly lied on their border declaration and entered Queensland after being in Victoria may be facing serious prison time.

The Logan male trio aged 29, 25 and 23 have been issued with notices to appear in court for failing to comply with COVID-19 Queensland border direction, after they allegedly made a false declaration on their border pass when they drove through Coolangatta on Sunday.

If found guilty of fraud, the group of men could face upwards of five years behind bars.

A number of police sources have blasted the trio, saying they hope the book gets thrown at them.

“We’re all working really hard to keep the state safe and these three lie and come through. I hope they throw the book at them,” one officer said.

Another officer questioned how the three men got through the NSW/Victoria border in the first place. The Bulletin has been told they allegedly drove the same car the whole way.

“That really needs to be investigated. How many others have done the same thing?” the officer questioned.

This latest breach in the border comes on the back of three women from Logan lying about being in Melbourne last week on their border declaration. Two tested positive on return, sparking a frenzied contact tracing operation to identify the risk of community outbreaks.

A man in his 20s has also tested positive to the virus upon his return to the country and into Queensland from Afghanistan last week, claiming he was a consular official on his border declaration. But the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said he was a private security contractor who had no official diplomatic standing.

Officers are catching a large number of people trying to sneak into Queensland. As of 4pm on Tuesday, they have turned back 1001 people at the road blockades and 13 at the airports since July 10.

Police Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said it would be an almost impossible task to stop every single car and interrogate every person as they entered the state.

“There is no system in the world that will stop people making false declarations, or undertaking any other unlawful activity to try and enter Queensland when they shouldn’t,” he said.

“That’s why it is critically important for everyone who plans to enter Queensland that they provide truthful information regarding their previous whereabouts and contact information.

“If we were to stop every single vehicle at all of our border checkpoints and speak with every single occupant of those vehicles, the delays would be measured in weeks, not minutes or hours.

“It’s simply not practical to stop and interrogate every single person who comes in.”

He said people needed to realise that they were putting lives at risk when they lied on their passes.

“What people need to understand, if they lie on a border declaration pass and in fact they have come from a hotspot, they place the safety, perhaps the life of a loved one, a friend, a colleague, in jeopardy. It is that serious.

“And that’s why we will remain vigilant, we will continue conducting random inspections of vehicles, even when they display the current border passes.

“This will cause delays and, while it is unfortunate, we will certainly not apologise for that because this is about keeping Queensland safe.”

Opposition leader Deb Frecklington said the system wasn’t working: “The Palaszczuk Labor government’s honour system at the border is clearly not working.

“We need to keep Queenslanders safe to protect lives and livelihoods. A third person has now allegedly entered the state with coronavirus through Labor’s border controls.

“The LNP is calling for mandatory maximum penalties for those who break the rules.

“There should be mandatory testing before anyone leaves quarantine and no exemptions from hotel quarantine requirements, including for celebrities.

“We believe a reverse onus of proof should now be put on people entering Queensland where they must prove they have not been to a hotspot. We can’t risk the lives and livelihoods of Queenslanders because of lax border controls.”

It comes as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk reported there had been no new cases of coronavirus in Queensland in the 24 hours to Tuesday, and there were just 12 active cases in the state.

Ms Palaszczuk said the three men’s actions had undermined “all of the great work Queenslanders have done”.

She also blocked exemptions for consular staff to bypass quarantine rules, with the new rule kicking in from Wednesday. A 29-year-old Slacks Creek man, 23-year-old Waterford man and 25-year-old Loganlea man have all been issued notices to appear in court.