Last week my oldest son, who just “celebrated” his 21st in lockdown, was confronted by two police people on North Melbourne station. My son was on his way to work. He can’t get his licence due to lockdown, he can’t get to work with a mate due to COVID restrictions, so he catches

a train, and a bus, and walks to get from Brunswick to Sunshine for work. He is lucky to be working in a permitted industry (construction), and as we are worrried about his mental health we have encouraged him to keep working even though his hours have been halved due to site

number restrictions. He has struggled with seeing the point of going on - especially when many of his mates are staying home and earning more than him on job keeper. But he is loyal, and his boss needs him, so he travels 1.5 hours each day to work. Police on North Melbourne

station asked to see his permit, which he presented. But apparently the hours we filled into the “wrong column”, so he was fined for not having a valid permit (note, the employer fills out the forms). Then they fined him again for being out of his 5K radius, then they issued him

with a third fine, because having recently moved out of home, his learners permit still had our home address on it (have you tried to get any paperwork down during COVID? Everything takes twice as long). Then they made him return home, so he lost that day’s shift. More than $2K

in fines for a young man, doing his best, trying to keep going, trying to manage his mental health and keep his job. My heart is breaking. We have stood by and watched our teens struggle through lockdown, but believed it was for the common good. But this has shaken my resolve

and goodwill. He can’t afford the THREE fines and should not have to pay them. His employer has reissued the permitted worker permit with the hours in the correct columns and my son is back out there on his way to work. @JoshBBornstein @DanielAndrewsMP Is this fair?

Update: @VictoriaPolice called. Their Media team passed on the Twitter thread. V nice police person from compliance dept will look into my son’s case. Asked a few more details. Will call son’s boss to verify. Will also view body cam footage.

The cops involved were transit & public safety team. Bloke who called me was v reasonable. His dog was barking for a walk in the background because he’s #wfh too.