'I'm the only parent he has': Single dad is separated from his eight-year-old son and forced to sleep in his car due to confusing border rules
- Mick Dunn crossed the border to go to Tweed Heads Local Court on Wednesday
- The single father got a border pass to appear as a witness in a real estate matter
- On his way back to Brisbane later that day he was told he had the wrong pass
- He made desperate call to find sitter for his son and slept in his car for two nights
Mick Dunn, who lives in Brisbane with his eight-year-old son, had to cross the border into Tweed Heads on Wednesday last week
A single dad was separated from his young son and forced to sleep in his car for three days due to confusing border rules.
Mick Dunn, who lives in Brisbane with his eight-year-old son, had to cross the border into Tweed Heads on Wednesday last week.
He got a border pass to appear as a witness in a real estate matter in Tweed Heads Local Court but as he tried to head back home he found himself in trouble.
When he went cross the border he was told he had the wrong border pass and would be unable to go home.
'I am currently stuck in NSW and unable to go home to my son because I made a mistake on my covid19 form,' he wrote on Facebook.
Mick Dunn, who lives in Brisbane with his eight-year-old son, had to cross the border into Tweed on Wednesday last week. He got a border pass to appear as a witness in a real estate matter in Tweed Heads Local Court but as he tried to head back home he found himself in trouble
'I have only been to tweeds heads (where there have been no covid 19 cases). The Palaszczuk government thinks inviting hundreds of AFL players from Victoria (Australia's covid19 hotspot) is ok but allowing Queensland residents home from Tweed heads. This is not ok.'
The Queensland government has deemed all of Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT to be coronavirus hotspots.
Travellers from hotspot states who are granted a border declaration pass are required to spend 14 days in mandatory hotel quarantine, at their own cost.
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With his son back in Brisbane, Mr Dunn had to make a desperate call to lock in a last-minute sitter.
'I'm the only parent my eight-year-old son has. So he was left without a parent while I was stuck,' he told the Courier Mail.
'I phoned up DOCS to see what my options were with them, I didn't know what was going to happen.'
He spent three days stuck on the NSW-side of the border separated from his son - only able to return after he switched his listed residence to a friend's Pimpama address.
'I am currently stuck in NSW and unable to go home to my son because I made a mistake on my covid19 form,' he wrote on Facebook
He now believes there needs to be more compassion when it comes to border restrictions.
'My poor son would have ended up in state care if I didn't have someone to pick him up.'
He said tough stance on getting back into Queensland seemed ridiculous since there had been no COVID-19 cases in the Tweed Shire.
A Queensland Health spokesperson said the restrictions were designed to keep Queenslanders safe.
'The media and the community has done a great job raising awareness that Queensland's borders are closed, except in rare circumstances.
'There are provisions in the border restrictions direction for those assisting with a state or Commonwealth law enforcement investigation.
'You will need to obtain a Queensland Border Declaration Pass to cross the border even if you are a returning Queenslander.'
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