Tony Abbott snapped maskless at Manly Beach

<div class="new-post-menu-component">NSW Police have confirmed they are investigating an eyewitness report that former Prime Minister Tony Abbott was photographed maskless at Manly beach on Wednesday.</div> <div class="post-body-container"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> <p>Abbott maintains he was not in breach of the rules because he had originally attended the beach to go surfing and catch some “magic waves” which he added “is exercise”.</p> <p>He told media he believed he was completely within the rules even under what he called the current “rather oppressive regime”.</p> <p>Abbott has not been fined or charged with any wrongdoing.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">🚨 BREAKING 🚨<br /><br />Here is another example of Australia’s political elite playing by a different set of rules compared to everyone else.<br /><br />Look at how Former PM Tony Abbott is dressed - THIS IS NOT EXERCISE!<br /><br />I wonder whether <a href="https://twitter.com/nswpolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nswpolice</a> will issue Abbott with an infringement notice? <a href="https://t.co/lLqC3pQPFm">pic.twitter.com/lLqC3pQPFm</a></p> — John Adams (@adamseconomics) <a href="https://twitter.com/adamseconomics/status/1435400918019702784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2021</a></blockquote> NSW Police are investigating an eyewitness report that former Prime Minister Tony Abbott was maskless at Manly beach on Wednesday. <p>But the woman who photographed him has confirmed she has now been contacted by police and will make a statement.</p> <p>“Nothing says mockdown more than an ex-PM flaunting around without a mask,” she said to the media.</p> <p>“It’s OK for him, but what about everyone else who has been fined by the police? What about all the kids that can’t be vaccinated?”</p> <p>“When the premier says ‘people should use their judgement’, this shows that even a former leader of this country can’t even be trusted to use his judgement,” she added.</p> <p><strong>Photographed at Fairy Bower Beach chatting to a friend</strong></p> <p>The former Prime Minister was photographed in jeans and a jumper chatting with the friend at Fairly Bower Beach on the Manly foreshore.</p> <p>“I went out for a surf on the beautiful Bower. Caught a couple of magic waves,” he said.</p> <p>He was then overheard apologising to his friend as he realised he’d made an error.</p> <p>“S**t I don’t have my mask,” the former PM was overheard saying.</p> <p>The group went on to joke about Abbott’s globetrotting overseas travels which have recently included a trip to India as a trade envoy for Australia.</p> <p>After his friend joked he was surprised Abbott had been let back into the country, the former PM replied, “I’ve got a passport mate, they had to let me into the country.”</p> <p>“And yeah, it’s a perfect day in Sydney. Just a pity we’re all bloody suffering lockdown conditions.</p> <p>“Apart from that, it’s as good as it can be.</p> <p>“Look, I regard myself as having been at all times within the rules. I was surfing. That’s exercise. I was with one other person. That’s permitted. I then walked briskly to the coffee shop, that’s permitted.</p> <p>“I didn’t have a mask on while I was drinking coffee. That’s permitted. So, all ridgy didgy even under the current rather oppressive regime.”</p> <p><strong>NSW imposes a $500 fine for adults who don’t comply</strong></p> <p>There is a $500 fine for adults in NSW who fail to comply with a direction to wear or carry a mask.</p> <p>The person who took the photograph of Abbott told media he was still chatting without his mask after they returned from a dip in the ocean around 9am.</p> <p>Abbott is the latest in a line of politicians photographed maskless in recent months.</p> <p>Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was fined $200 for failing to wear a mask in breach of COVID orders in June.</p> <p>Local constituents informed police after he was spotted in a petrol station in Armidale without a mask.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images and Twitter</em></p> </div> </div> </div>

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