Travelling Kiwi who defied Perth's lockdown and illegally flew home to New Zealand could be jailed

A travelling New Zealand citizen who defied Perth’s three-day lockdown and illegally flew home could be jailed for six months.

The man, whose identity is likely to remain private, could alternatively be fined $4,000 after boarding a flight from Perth during their Covid-19 community outbreak. 

After flying to Sydney, he then flew to Auckland, eventually touching down on Monday, despite flights from the then-hotspot being banned in New Zealand.

The deliberate breach was discovered during routine passenger checks after the man arrived across the Tasman. 

A man flew from Perth to Sydney before boarding a flight to Auckland, authorities have confirmed (pictured, other travellers in Sydney after the travel bubble opened)

The deliberate breach was discovered during routine passenger checks after the man arrived across the Tasman on Monday (pictured, a flight from Australia in Wellington on April 19)

The gentleman in question is now self-isolating, according to the New Zealand Herald.

‘We have a role to play in screening passengers who are travelling to New Zealand,’ Immigration NZ manager Peter Elms said.

‘The first time we became aware we had an individual who had potentially breached the eligibility requirements was when he arrived in Auckland.

‘As soon as we became aware of that, we took steps to notify the Ministry of Health and put the response into effect.’ 

Elms conceded there is an ‘over-reliance’ on people being honest when declaring where they have recently travelled – both to the airline and border agencies.

He then added that the man who flew into Auckland from Sydney after originally departing Perth had made ‘deliberate changes’ to his itinerary and is ‘now subject to (pending) imposed penalties’ from the Ministry of Health and NZ Police.

Speaking on Monday, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, NZ’s Director-general of Health,  confirmed the risk of infection from the person who travelled across the Tasman was ‘relatively low.’

He also did not attend any of the identified hotspot locations in Perth.

The rogue traveller tested negative before boarding his flight to Sydney, and is now in a managed isolation facility in Northland, New Zealand for 14 days.

Perth and the Peel region went into mandatory lockdown last Friday for three-days at midnight after another man had contracted Covid in hotel quarantine at the Mercure. 

He then moved around the community rapidly, unaware he was infectious.

The rogue traveller tested negative for Covid before boarding his flight to Sydney, and is now in a managed isolation facility in Northland, New Zealand for 14 days (stock image)