One of the men who ignored strict border restrictions to attend last year's AFL Grand Final has been banned from working in his chosen field for 10 years.
Financial planner Mark Babbage and friend Hayden Burbank snuck into Western Australia to watch Melbourne beat the Western Bulldogs in the 2021 decider in Perth. Both men were photographed celebrating the victory with Demons players but spent three months behind bars for the border breach.
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On Monday the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said Babbage was prohibited from providing financial services or engaging in credit activities for 10 years — having already been taken off the ASIC registry in March.
“Mr Babbage was convicted of three charges relating to a failure to comply with a direction under the Emergency Management Act 2005 and one charge of gaining a benefit by fraud in contravention of the Criminal Code WA on 13 October 2021 in the Magistrates Court of Western Australia,” an ASIC statement read, per The Age.
“ASIC is satisfied that Mr Babbage lacks the honesty and integrity to participate in the financial services and credit industries.”
Babbage, 38 — who ran Babbage Finance — had pleaded guilty to gaining benefit by fraud.
Burbank and Babbage used false documents to attend the AFL Grand Final, leaving Melbourne for Darwin on September 14, then flying into Perth on September 22.
The pair went to the premiership decider at Optus Stadium on September 25 and were snapped mingling among players in the changerooms, with photos later being posted to the AFL’s official Instagram account.
The pair breached Western Australia’s strict border rules because they did not meet criteria to get an exemption to enter the state — coming from a high risk jurisdiction — did not have a Covid-19 test 72 hours before leaving it and show evidence of a negative result, and did not declare on their G2G form that they had come from Victoria.
Both were charged with three counts of breaching the Emergency Management Act — which has a maximum penalty of 12 months in jail or a fine of $50,000 — and fraud for the falsified documents.
Burbank apologised for his “selfish and stupid decisions” after leaving a Perth prison in December.
“I’d like to apologise to the people of Western Australia and the Northern Territory for putting you and your state and territory at risk with our actions,” he said at the time.
“I‘d like to apologise to the healthcare workers Australia wide, the doctors and nurses who’ve put their lives on the line and worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic.
“We are deeply sorry for our selfish and stupid decisions we made.”
With NCA NewsWire
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