In a show of true leadership, Barnaby Joyce has been fined for not wearing a mask indoors. The re-minted Deputy Prime Minister was caught when a member of the public reported him to crime stoppers.
According to 9News, the re-elected leader of the Nationals was caught without a mask while attending a petrol station in Armidale. Joyce is said to have entered the store without a mask, which is currently against public health orders.
A member of the public is said to have witnessed the incident and reported him for breaching NSW mask mandates. The new rules came back into effect last week due to the latest outbreak of COVID-19 across Sydney and greater New South Wales.
Police are said to have checked the CCTV footage from the petrol station and subsequently handed Joyce a $200 fine. This is the same amount that any citizen who fails to comply with the mandates will cop at the present time.
This occured in the midst of a two-week lockdown that began last week and extends to Wollongong, the Blue Mountains and the Central Coast. This is the biggest widespread lockdown NSW has seen since 2020.
At the moment it is due to last until 11.59pm on Friday, 9 July. However, as numbers continues to rise — including in other states — there is speculation that it could be extended.
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Barnaby Joyce was re-elected as the leader of the Nationals just last week after a leadership spill saw Michael McCormack get booted from the role.
And thanks to the Coalition agreement, this saw Joyce once again become the Deputy PM of Australia. Joyce resigned from this position back in 2018 after he left his wife for a former staffer (who he has a child with) as well as a sexual harrassment complaint. Joyce denied the latter and an investigation into the matter was inconclusive.