If you are planning to carry flowers with you on your flight to Australia, you should drop that plan super quick. Recently, Malayalam actress Navya Nair found herself in trouble at the Melbourne airport for carrying jasmine flowers.
At one of the events in Melbourne, Navya claimed she was heavily fined by the airport staff in Australia for jasmine flowers in her possession. The incident occurred when the actress arrived in Melbourne to participate in Onam celebrations organised by the Malayali Association of Victoria.
The Airport authorities, notably, had discovered around 15 cm of jasmine flowers in her bag, at a time, when under Australian biosecurity and customs laws, importing fresh flowers and plant materials is strictly prohibited. Since violations can pose serious threats to the country's agriculture and environment, the Australian Department of Agriculture imposed a fine of 1980 Australian dollars (approximately INR 1.14 lakh) on the actress.
Following the incident, Navya posted a light-hearted video on social media, turning the fine into a moment of self-mockery.
In the video, she is seen at the airport eating food, boarding the flight, shopping, and walking around gracefully in a traditional Kerala sari, adorned with jasmine flowers in her hair.
The background track for the video is the trending song 'Onam Mood', and she captioned it playfully as, "Visuals just before I was fined."
Later, the caption was changed to an emoji of a white flower, with the hashtags of Onam, onam vibes, and onam 2025.
At a public event, she shared the details of her ordeal: "Before I came here, it was my father who bought jasmine for me. He cut it into two parts and gave it to me. He asked me to wear one in my hair from Kochi to Singapore, since it would wither by the time I reached. He told me to keep the second one in my handbag so I could wear it on the onward journey from Singapore. I put it in my carry bag.
"What I did was against the law. It was a mistake I made unknowingly. However, ignorance is no excuse. For bringing a 15 cm jasmine string, officials asked me to pay a fine of AUD 1,980 (INR 1.14 lakh). A mistake is a mistake, though it was not intentional. They told me the fine must be paid within 28 days."
Not just fresh flowers, here is a list of things that you cannot carry to Australia
If you don't want to pay a hefty amount on your work or leisure trip to Australia, here is a peek at some of the items on what's not allowed:
Fresh or dried flowers
Fresh fruit and vegetables
Herbs, spices, raw nuts, seeds
Dairy products
Sweets like Burfi, Ras Malai, Rasgulla, Pedas, Gulab Jamun, Mysore Pak and Soan Papdi
Rice
Tea
Homemade food
Honey and beeswax
Pet food
Feathers, bones, skins (You also need to declare down jackets, sleeping bags, pillows and quilts that have feathers)
Traditional medicines made with plant/animal material
Even food you bring off a plane or ship
Oddly specific bans also exist. For Lohri and Rakhi, "radish" makes it to the forbidden list, alongside cotton rakhi threads, though decorated ones with plastic or metallic beads are allowed.
So next time you are travelling there, pack your bags accordingly.
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