Police Seized 300L Of Booze & A Boat Sank At This Utter Shitshow Of A Sandbar Party In Darwin

Darwin beach party

Around 600 people in Darwin spent their Saturday partying on a sand bar out at sea. When the tide came in, people scrambled, several brawls broke out, a boat capsized and cops seized approximately 300 litres of booze. Let’s unpack.

In Darwin, it’s not uncommon for people to party on the sandbar off Cullen Bay, where plenty of saltwater crocs have been spotted in the past.

Due to the pandemic, however, this recent gathering stuck out more than usual amid the context of a very locked-down Australia. NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner even tried to flex on other states on Facebook.

“You can’t do this in Bondi, but you can do this in Darwin,” he wrote.

“This is the reward for COVID Zero and hard borders – freedom and fun.”

It was all fun and games until… the tide came in. People began panicking and jumping into the handful of tinnies available.

The boats became overloaded and crashed into one another, and one boat even bloody capsized in footage broadcast by Nine News.

The NT News reported on Monday that some of the boat operators allegedly demanded to be paid in drugs for the return trip. The partygoers wound up needing a police rescue.

“[Police] were genuinely concerned that they were going to lose people,” Water Police Acting Senior Sergeant Andrew Hocking told the NT News on Tuesday.

“Our primary concern was making sure that by the time the sandbar went under everybody that needed to get off got back onshore.”

Amid all the chaos, several brawls apparently broke out on the sandbar, according to News.com.au, and one Darwin man was even hospitalised.

Because police were busy rescuing people, no fines were issued on the day. However, they did manage to seize around 300 litres of booze which hadn’t already been consumed, and they’re now reviewing footage of the party.

“People don’t realise how quickly a situation can change with the NT tides, and it was disappointing to see such a large crowd be so irresponsible and put so many people at risk,” Watch Commander Xavier McMahon said on Sunday.

While all this may look like a flagrant breach of restrictions for most of us, it’s worth noting that in Darwin gatherings smaller than 500 people are allowed so long as people are distancing, and gatherings of between 500 and 1000 people simply need to complete a COVIDsafe checklist.

Perhaps they should’ve also taken the tides into consideration while getting drunk out at sea.

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