Qld border breach: Two teens arrested in Noosa after ‘travelling from NSW hotspot’

Queensland police have detained two teenage girls in Sunshine Coast after they entered Queensland on Friday, despite having allegedly travelled via a Covid-19 hotspot. The two girls entered the state before the borders were officially closed to New South Wales on Saturday, however they are said to have lied to police about coming directly from Sydney, which had already been declared a hotspot.

Police said the teenagers were aged 15 and 16, with one being from the Sunshine Coast and the other from New South Wales. They were detained at Noosa Civic Shopping Centre on Monday afternoon after arriving by train via Brisbane.

Superintendent Craig Hawkins said the girls were intercepted by police at the train transit centre in Brisbane where they “weren’t completely honest with where they had been”. Information later came to light which proved the teenagers had previously been in the New South Wales hotspot of Sydney.

The two girls are now with police and being tested for coronavirus although they’ve shown no symptoms. Hawkins told the media it is likely that the pair will be placed in quarantine afterwards.

“I stress that there is no information to suggest that they are carriers of the disease, however in the interests of safety and because they have come from a hotspot we were keen to ensure that they have undertaken the right testing,” he said.

No charges have been laid at this stage and police say they are now cooperating with police. Hawkins suggested their age could have played a factor in their decision-making processes.

“They are young ladies and certainly they probably, maybe, don’t understand the full criteria that’s currently applying with CHO (Chief Health Officer) directives,” he said.

The news comes after three men were caught illegally entering the state last week after lying on their border declaration passes about coming from Melbourne. The three men from Logan, a suburb south of Brisbane City, will appear in Coolangatta Magistrates Court on September 28.

Meanwhile, the three women who illegally entered Queensland after travelling from Victoria via Sydney have now been charged. The trio failed to quarantine and, after two of them tested positive for Covid-19, sparked fears of an outbreak in south east Queensland.

Queensland Police confirmed that a 19-year-old Heritage Park woman, a 21-year-old Acacia Ridge woman and a 21-year-old Algester woman have all been charged with one count each of providing false or misleading documents – Section 364 of the Public Health Act (maximum penalty – 100 penalty units or $13,345) and fraud (dishonestly gain benefit / advantage) – Section 408C(1)(d) of the criminal code (maximum penalty five years’ imprisonment).

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made the decision to hard shut Queensland borders to the whole of NSW and the ACT by 1am last Saturday. From now on, all visitors from those states, along with Victorians, will be turned away and only returning residents and those with exemptions will be allowed in.