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ACT MLA Mark Parton said he has “unwittingly” breached Western Australia’s border restrictions following a visit to Queanbeyan on Boxing Day. In a post on Facebook, the Brindabella MLA said he was now in quarantine until he received further instructions from WA health authorities. Canberra residents are free to travel to WA but under the state’s border controls they must have not spent any time in NSW in the previous 14 days. Mr Parton went to NSW on Boxing Day to call races at the Queanbeyan Racecourse. He said felt “pretty stupid”. He said had only spent a couple of hours across the border and it didn’t cross his mind when he travelled to WA. “To be honest, it simply hadn’t occurred to me that I had ‘travelled to NSW’ when I flew into WA this week,” he said. “Queanbeyan is just 10kms from my house and at the end of the day I tend to consider it as a suburb of Canberra. “When this came to my attention today, I immediately sought advice from the relevant authorities and am quarantining until I receive a response on next steps.” READ MORE: Mr Parton said he had cancelled New Years plans in Sydney to enable his travel to WA. “I take COVID very seriously, and am very sorry for this oversight,” he said. For faster access to the latest Canberra news, download The Canberra Times app for iOS and Android.
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ACT MLA Mark Parton said he has “unwittingly” breached Western Australia’s border restrictions following a visit to Queanbeyan on Boxing Day.
In a post on Facebook, the Brindabella MLA said he was now in quarantine until he received further instructions from WA health authorities.
Canberra residents are free to travel to WA but under the state’s border controls they must have not spent any time in NSW in the previous 14 days.
He said felt “pretty stupid”. He said had only spent a couple of hours across the border and it didn’t cross his mind when he travelled to WA.
“To be honest, it simply hadn’t occurred to me that I had ‘travelled to NSW’ when I flew into WA this week,” he said.
“Queanbeyan is just 10kms from my house and at the end of the day I tend to consider it as a suburb of Canberra.
“When this came to my attention today, I immediately sought advice from the relevant authorities and am quarantining until I receive a response on next steps.”
Mr Parton said he had cancelled New Years plans in Sydney to enable his travel to WA.
“I take COVID very seriously, and am very sorry for this oversight,” he said.
