Melbourne, Australia (CNN) – The Australian Minister of Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs has threatened to cancel the visas of captured visitors who violate the rules to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the country, after hundreds of people attended a beach party in Bronte Beach on Christmas Day attended in Sydney.
Local journalist Peter Hannam, who walked past the event at 5pm, said a number of attendees spoke loudly in British accents.
“These are the same people who would gather at Bondi Beach or Bronte or somewhere else every summer because they want to show their friends in the northern hemisphere that it’s Christmas and that we’re in the summer,” he said.
Authorities were eventually forced to break the opportunity, and the state riot police were deployed to help remove the crowd.
Police issued a notice to one person, a 25-year-old man, about attending court for failing to comply with the ‘move on’ direction. “The rest of the crowd obeyed and left the area,” police said in a statement.
“Visitors to Australia should be very clear that if they violate health orders, they threaten the health and safety of Australians and that the federal government will look into their visas,” he said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on December 29 .