A magistrate has delivered a scathing rebuke to a Barnawartha man who tried to argue his arrest and charging for crossing the border into NSW without a permit was illegal.
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Jarrad Michael Searby launched into a spiel in Albury Local Court on Monday on how he reckoned what happened to him was not permitted under Commonwealth law.
But magistrate Richard Funston was having none of it, cutting him short and slamming him for wasting the court's time.
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Searby, 34, who was arrested at Corowa on July 8, then spent a night in the police cells, told the court he was not going to be legally represented.
He then stated he would not be entering a plea to the charge, either now or at any future date.
Mr Funston insisted that a plea needed to be made known. If he wanted to plead not guilty, he said, an order would have to be made for the preparation of a brief of evidence.
But Searby continued to insist that he did not have to enter a plea as "the charge" of not complying with a notice direction in relation to COVID-19 "is an invalid charge".
Eventually, Mr Funston told Searby that because he was clearly opposed to the charge, he would enter a plea of not guilty on his behalf, then set a hearing date for later this year.
"You don't understand what's going on today Mr Searby," he said.
Searby then tried to insist he reserved his right to maintain his stance but, again, Mr Funston wasn't impressed.
"I'm not sure why you're wanting to grandstand, Mr Searby, you're doing yourself no favours, you're doing yourself no favours."
To this, Searby tried to argue his case under Section 109 of the Constitution of Australia, to suggest that Commonwealth law should prevail as the state law was inconsistent.
But Mr Funston told Searby his argument about Commonwealth law was not relevant, pointing out he found that the charge laid "has been made out".
"Mr Searby, save it for another day, another court," he said.
"This is a very busy local court, I don't have time for this nonsense.
"I think that rather than continue with this sort of nonsense I'd rather cut to the chase and go straight to a hearing."
Mr Funston then told Searby he was not going to get involved in an argument with him.
He set a hearing date of October 6, then turned to a NSW Sheriff's officer who came into court to monitor Searby's case.
"Thank you sheriff, can you please encourage Mr Searby to leave the court."
