Don’t worry China, we super promise not to militarise it 🤞

I hate it when they quote a time but no timezone. 10.37PM according to who?

How many times have they “banned” vapes now? Are they actually going to do it?

Pronounced as “shitter”

Agreed and I made a similar point in a few of my other comments. If you look at the original context it was more of a “well you have to abide by the rules and the dogs should be quarantined but if you’re not willing to do that then we would have no other option”.

The very next sentence says:

The analogy breaks down in the “admit fault” side of things because the cop can ticket you anyway

And the same in the US except with ever larger fines than AU https://www.cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors/agricultural-items

They do “random searches” just like any other country but I find it more likely in this situation that they saw something on the scanner which prompted them to search the bag. Even if you compare the process to the USA it’s pretty much identical. You still have to declare everything except the USA has even steeper fines than Australia.

They were never really going to kill the dogs. The full context was along the lines of “well you can do the right thing, or we will have no choice but to…”. I’m not aware of any cases where they’ve actually euthanised a pet, famous or no. It’s an absolute last resort as they would rather just quarantine them. But yeah, pretty funny and a win for the government.

And the same applies! You have to be declared. If you try and smuggle a human in there’s probably steep fines associated if you’re caught.

Here’s a short news story about it with some additional context https://youtu.be/4a7ExWd698w

Here’s the original clip https://youtu.be/Q2BDtdkyxFk

If you search Johnny Depp hostage video you will find it. We don’t talk about she who must not be named.

I think it was more about sending a message. In a way yes because he is famous, but in the way that they wanted to leverage that as a deterrence. It wasn’t about “letting him off the hook”. It was about using him as a platform to say to the world “we do not fuck around when it comes to this”. If you’ve seen the hostage video you know what I mean 🤣

They found it after they went through her backpack.

Extra info: if you declare everything, even if it’s something that’s definitely not allowed, you will not get into any trouble. I’m talking about food and stuff not drugs or guns. They just don’t want people to not be declaring things that then slip through without inspection. That’s why there’s a heavy fine if they have to “catch” you. A lot of things are okay’d to be brought in after inspection.

And what I got from other commenters is that their countries hate pieces of gum and shrivelled blackened oranges. It’s not unique to Australia although as an island nation especially prone to biosecurity threats we do have a reputation for taking it more seriously. It’s not a difficult thing to get caught with if you’re paying any sort of attention. You can make mistakes and accidentally (or even purposefully) bring stuff in as long as you own up to it. There’s signage everywhere explaining in words and pictures what is and is not allowed. The custom agents ask you. There’s literally every chance to declare.

It’s not as harsh as it sounds, it’s only when you get caught that it becomes a big deal. It’s like if you got pulled up by the cops. If you try and lie or simply don’t even recognise that you were speeding you’ll probably get a ticket. The analogy breaks down in the “admit fault” side of things because the cop can ticket you anyway, where under our biosecurity law you cannot be punished for declaring goods that would not be allowed in.

Could it have something to do with it being Chinese state media? I’m not aware of any ad blocker that is that overzealous but it might be a possibility?

Perhaps anyone listening to the plane announcements, looks at any one of the multitude of signs on arrival, or anyone (everyone) who fills out the incoming passenger card? It’s not at all unclear what you have to do when you’re there. They make it clear to declare everything at multiple points. There is no penalty for declaring something even if it’s not allowed in.

On the first side of the incoming passenger card, half of it is taken up by the question:

Are you bringing into Australia:

[…]

6. Meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, dairy, fruit, vegetables?

7. Grains, seeds, bulbs, straw, nuts, plants, parts of plants, traditional medicines or herbs, wooden articles?

8. Animals, parts of animals, animal products including equipment, pet food, eggs, biologicals, specimens, birds, fish, insects, shells, bee products?

Great, then declare it and there shouldn’t be any problem. Where the problem comes in is people not declaring it. If it’s hidden somewhere in their luggage or on their person how is anyone supposed to know that?

Granted it is harsh in this case which I already said but customs has no interest in letting people skirt the rules just because.

It was probably a lack of attention combined with a genuine mistake. She claims she slept through the flight. Lots of people are also unaware how strictly we deal with it and think they’ll be fine instead of fined. We have an entire TV show about it.

I don’t want to be too harsh on her as it’s relatively minor and the fine amounted to 10% of their combined remaining life savings. It was her mistake.

We do. There’s announcements on the flight and there’s signs everywhere.

The department spokeswoman pointed to biosecurity announcements on flights which told travellers what their declaration obligations were, as well as signage about it around arrivals areas in Australian airports.

“Chicken meat poses a significant biosecurity risk to Australia, particularly the risk of highly pathogenic notifiable avian influenza (HPNAI) virus which can cause severe disease and mortality across Australia’s poultry industry, and may also affect wild bird populations.”

We do have a reputation for taking these things very seriously, as we should. We were even going to kill Johnny Depp’s dogs at one point but settled for the “hostage video”. Despite that, it does seem excessive in this case and should have been overturned on appeal at the very least.

Thankfully someone stepped up and ended up paying the fine on their behalf.