By Abbey Cannan
Hundreds of partying backpackers have been causing a headache for police as they let loose at weekly illegal gatherings on Sunshine Coast beaches.
Noosa Council, District Police and Coolum Police are now searching for the party organisers who are in breach of Covid-19 regulations while hosting illegal party gatherings.
Coolum Police relieving senior sergeant Ben Cox said police had been receiving complaints every week in different locations on the coast for the past month.
“It’s a matter that the District is looking at for breaches of Covid regulations and council is also looking at it for illegal party gatherings because of where they are assembling,“ he said.
“If you’re going to have gatherings on council property then you need permits from the council as well.“
Sergeant Cox said police were catching the illegal gatherings due to noise complaints from annoyed residents.
“People ring up to say that there’s loud drums or loud Duff Duff music going on and it’s a matter of trying to figure out where it is coming from,“ he said.
A gathering of around 200 backpackers at Lake Weyba three weeks ago was stopped after police received a complaint from residents at Marcus Beach.
He said Coolum police had not issued any fines and were yet to find out how the parties were being organised.
“We’re making investigations in relation to that at the moment because the backpackers seem to have their own little network,“ he said.
“We don’t know if the little party they had last night (Monday 28 September) was related to the others. A little network from Brisbane came up and they said it was just a de-stress thing, where they get together and play bongo drums.
“The bigger parties are quite well organised where they will have a truck turn up that has generators and speakers and a paid DJ.“
He said there was no Sunshine Coast locals involved in the parties.
“The investigations at the moment to identify the organisers are well under way and I think we will be able to communicate with them that they are not allowed to conduct those parties,“ he said.
Sergeant Cox said he was not concerned about similar beach parties occurring during Schoolies Week.
