NRL star turned champion boxer Anthony Mundine has been found guilty of flouting Covid restrictions after a three-year trial in which it emerged he took ‘nonsensical’ legal advice from a mystery lawyer known only as ‘Nige’.
The 49-year-old appeared for sentencing at Bankstown District Court on Tuesday after pleading not guilty to a charge of failing to comply with a Covid reporting instruction on July 21, 2021.
Police alleged the retired athlete, also known as ‘The Man’, failed to scan a QR code to check in at a Bunnings store in Kingsgrove, in Sydney’s south, while NSW was in lockdown.
The outspoken former St George Illawarra Dragons player also reportedly did not wear a mask while in store but claimed he was exempt from the mask mandate.
In his sentencing, Magistrate Glenn Walsh said Mr Mundine had no reasonable excuse for failing to comply with the regulations but had a ‘point of principle he wanted to argue’.
“He simply had a view that he thought was right, but which he now knows is wrong… He showed great remorse for what he did,” the magistrate told the court.
Anthony Mundine (pictured) has been found guilty of breaching Covid restrictions after a three-year trial
Even Mundine’s old boxing foe Danny Green (pictured fighting Mundine) sided with the former NRL in the case
‘He was very polite to everyone who worked there [Bunnings] that day and was very famous. When he spoke to the police he expressed a position that I did not agree with.”
Mr Walsh noted the dismissal of 33,000 Covid fines, which Mr Mundine’s would likely have included had he not appeared in court, and dismissed the case without conviction or penalty.
The court was told the champion boxer had been given incorrect advice by his lawyer, who gave no evidence and was referred to only as ‘Nige’, about the validity of the Covid-era regulations.
Mr Mundine told Bunnings staff and later police that the regulations allegedly breached privacy and biosecurity laws, and lacked legitimacy because they had not been passed by the Senate.
Despite claiming in court that he was unaware of the laws, Mr Walsh said Mr Mundine had not wanted to comply with Covid regulations and looked for a ‘pseudo basis for saying that’.
“The defendant sought advice before going to Bunnings. He knew the relevant restrictions and did not want to be bound by them,” Walsh told the court.
“Perhaps he sincerely believed that he was not bound. The advice he sought was nonsensical. His claim to police that he was aware of the facts was patently untrue.”
He added: “It was not as if he was challenging the legality of the order in the High Court. He simply decided he could go to Bunnings to shop and not follow the rules.”
The court heard Mundine had sought ‘nonsensical’ legal advice on Covid restrictions from a mystery lawyer known only as ‘Nige’
Staff at the Bunnings store told the hearing that Mr Mundine had told them he was ‘not required to scan the QR code or wear a mask’ when he was stopped by security.
When Mr Mundine was questioned by one of the staff as he left, he said: ‘It was not my intention before to be rude to the other man. What you are doing is illegal. You can’t legally force me to check in.”
They said Mr Mundine added: ‘What you are doing is illegal, it is against the Privacy and Biosecurity Act and I can sue you if I want to. If I had filmed you, I could sue you.”
Questioned by police at his home later that day, Mr Mundine – after taking legal advice – told officers he had no comment and had the right to remain silent before making admissions.
He told officers he did not need to wear a mask due to a medical condition, adding that it was his “human right … protected by the Privacy Act, I know a little bit of my business.”
Mr Mundine then cited alleged breaches of biosecurity laws and told officers: ‘I don’t have to do it. The biosafety law protects me… You have to undergo training in that.’
Later, Mr Mundine said he did not remember where he heard about the alleged breaches of law due to Covid regulations, citing his lawyer and his cousin ‘Simmy’.
When asked if he would do the same if faced with the same situation today, Mr Mundine admitted he would comply with the regulations, despite his otherwise outspoken views.
“I was probably just excited by all the information I was given or believed in at the time… I’m a proud person, I felt violated. Violated. My rights were violated… I just felt wronged, deeply wronged.
“Everything was pretty crazy… as a human being I felt that not only me, but everyone was being violated… I love leading. I just thought I was doing the right thing, but clearly I wasn’t.”
Outside court, Mr Mundine said he was ‘glad it was finally over. It’s a burden off my back.”