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A young couple accused of ‘fleeing’ quarantine at Melbourne Airport on New Year’s Day could sue Victoria’s Health Minister for defamation if found innocent, experts claim.
The couple, from Goulburn in NSW, have apologised for leaving the airport but said they had a green zone permit and made an innocent mistake due to the confusion caused by the rapidly changing regulations.
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said on Saturday that the pair would each be fined at least $19,000 for breaching Victoria’s public health state of emergency.
But both Victoria Police and Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that their organisations were still investigating.
Terry Elford, 26, (right) and Debbie Elford, 24, said they made an innocent error when they left Melbourne Airport on New Year’s Day without quarantine, confused by rapidly changing rules
NSW Council for Civil Liberties spokesman Stephen Blanks said the pair may have an action for defamation when outed as being guilty despite ongoing investigations.
‘Government ministers need to be careful to ensure not to accuse people of being guilty until all the relevant investigations have been carried out,’ he told Daily Mail Australia on Sunday.
Mr Blanks said while it was possible Victoria could issue the pair on-the-spot fines, they still have the right to go to the courts and dispute the alleged offense – and that right had to be respected.
He said heavy-handed fines should be reserved for people who deliberately, flagrantly and dangerously flout the rules, not for people who are confused and make an innocent mistake.
NSW Council for Civil Liberties spokesman Stephen Blanks said government ministers should not declare people guilty before investigations finish especially when rules are changing fast
Police and the Victorian Health Minister accused the pair from New South Wales of ‘absconding’ from the airport in this van. The couple say they made a genuine mistake
‘When these rules change day-by-day as they are at the moment, it’s very onerous for people to know what they are and aren’t allowed to do,’ he said.
‘The objective here is to generate community compliance with the orders and criminalise people with heavy fines who may well have made an innocent mistake – if they made a mistake at all.
‘It doesn’t create the right environment in the community to create co-operation and compliance.’
Terry and Debbie Elford arrived at Tullamarine Airport on the morning of New Year’s Day on a flight from Canberra.
Police accused the pair of running from an officer who told them to go into quarantine and then fleeing the airport in a van.
The couple from Goulburn in NSW have disputed this, saying they made a genuine mistake.
They apologised on Saturday for leaving the airport and said they got coronavirus tests and contacted their local police in Goulburn, NSW, as soon as they saw the media reports.
‘We had a permit, live in a green zone in NSW, were flying from Canberra airport which is allowed, and after we arrived in Tullamarine, we were stopped by DHS officers who were not able to tell us whether or not we needed to quarantine, so after about an hour or so we walked away,’ Mr Elford, 26, said on Saturday.
Thousands joined a mad rush from NSW to the Victorian border ahead of new coronavirus shutdown rules at 11.59pm on January 1 (pictured, a border checkpoint in Mallacoota)
The couple said they had gone to an outdoor family barbecue in Victoria before flying back to Canberra that same afternoon as 24-year-old Debbie needed to attend an obstetrics appointment on Tuesday.
Mr Elford said the couple had told Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) of their plans.
Victoria’s border regulations changed rapidly from December 30 to January 1, with certain areas of NSW designated as red zones and others as green zones with permits issued.
The border snapped shut with any Victorians returning from NSW having to go into 14-day hotel quarantine from 11.59pm on January 1 – but that was after the pair had already arrived at Tullamarine.
Victoria’s DHHS said people travelling from or through ‘red zones’ and ‘hot zones’ from NSW were not permitted to enter Victoria on January 1.
However anyone else who entered from NSW on January 1 was required to get tested and self-quarantine for 14 days.
‘Victoria Police and DHHS are investigating this matter,’ a DHHS spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
Victorian Minister for Health Martin Foley said on Saturday that the couple were facing fines of at least $19,000 each.
‘I did want to make particular mention of two people who absconded from discussions with authorised officers yesterday who have now apparently returned to Goulburn in New South Wales,’ Mr Foley said.
‘Upon the advice of the public health team, those people have breached numerous orders of the public-health state of emergency in Victoria and they will each be fined at least $19,000 for their breaching of those arrangements.
‘This is a very serious matter.’
Mr Foley said the pair ‘absconded’, did not have appropriate declaration material and ‘would have been headed straight into compulsory hotel quarantine’.
Police said authorised officers spoke to the pair when they arrived at Tullamarine and told them they would have to quarantine in Victoria for 14 days.
‘The pair then ran from the officer, fleeing the airport, and were picked up by a vehicle outside,’ a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
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