Australia's richest man is allowed to SKIP quarantine in notoriously strict Western Australia despite the billionaire mining mogul having tested positive to coronavirus

• Andrew Forrest was granted an exemption to quarantine after returning to WA 
• The mining billionaire returned from a trip to Asia where he contracted Covid  
• His company's chief executive said Mr Forrest was negative before arriving back
• WA requires anyone coming from NSW to enter 14-day mandatory quarantine 

Australia's richest man was able to skip quarantine in Covid-19 strict Western Australia after returning from a trip where he tested positive for coronavirus.

Mining billionaire Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest, who owns Fortescue Metals Group, contracted the deadly virus while travelling through Asia last year.

The 59-year-old flew back to New South Wales before Christmas and spent 14 days quarantining there under police supervision.    

Mr Forrest was allowed to avoid a second stint of self-isolation after flying in a private jet back home to Western Australia having been granted an exemption.

At the height of the pandemic, Mr Forrest, who is worth an estimated $23billion, was granted exemptions to travel extensively, both interstate and abroad. 

Ordinary Australians have been banned from going abroad in all but exceptional circumstances since the border was shut on March 20, with all returning travellers made to undergo 14 days of hotel quarantine. 

Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Elizabeth Gaines said Mr Forrest and every one of his travelling group returned negative test results prior to returning to Australia from Asia.

'Fortescue Chairman Dr Andrew Forrest AO undertook a formal supervised 14-day quarantine period in New South Wales. The quarantine period was completed on January 3 and certified by the NSW Government,' Ms Gaines said. 

'While in quarantine Dr Forrest had zero contact with any persons from NSW, including the supervising police, and received an exemption from the Western Australian State Government to return to WA without an additional quarantine period.'

Ms Gaines said Mr Forrest and those he was travelling with strictly adhered to national quarantine requirements. 

Travellers from NSW are not allowed to enter Western Australia unless they have been provided with an exemption.

Normally, if permitted entry they must quarantine at suitable premises for 14 days.  

Mr Forest caught the virus from a female Russian interpreter after she joined his travel crew on a four-month tour in 2020 spanning 47 countries.

The purpose of the tour was to pursue potential renewable energy projects for his company. 

The unnamed woman, who was introducing Mr Forrest to government leaders as well as acting as an interpreter abroad, tested positive herself in Uzbekistan.

After Mr Forrest showed signs of infection, the tour was postponed, with the Fortescue crew returning to its travel base in Croatia. 

No other crew members tested positive for Covid, with Mr Forrest spending three days in a specialist respiratory clinic in Switzerland as a precaution. 

'I'm grateful that our apparatus, systems technologies and precautions kept my team safe,' Mr Forrest told the Australian Financial Review.

'I would rather have not caught Covid, but it hasn't harmed me, I'm still as fit as a fiddle.' 

After his short stint in the Swiss hospital, Mr Forrest made a full recovery.

Mr Forrest started his first mining company, Anaconda Nickel in 1994. Almost a decade later, he founded Fortescue Metals Group, which mines and ships iron ore to China.