Police have issued $30,000 worth of fines for breaches of COVID-related restrictions after they broke up a religious ceremony in a western suburb of Newcastle at the weekend.
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The fines were handed out after officers responded to reports of a gathering at a park in Minmi about 11.30am on Sunday, where they saw 10 people who were not socially distancing or wearing face masks.
Police said people in the group told them they were participating in a religious ceremony.
The 10 people - six men and four women - were each fined $3000 for breaching outdoor gathering restrictions in place as part of the COVID-19 public health orders.
It came as more than 150 fines were issued for breaches across the Hunter at the weekend.
Forty-seven were handed out in the Hunter Valley Police District - which takes in the Cessnock, Singleton, Muswellbrook and Scone areas - while 40 were issued in the Port Stephens-Hunter Police District, which includes the Maitland and Port Stephens areas.
Police fined 39 people at Lake Macquarie and 26 at Newcastle.
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