Sydney  - An Australian motorist has been fined by police for strapping a seatbelt around a carton of beer rather than using it to secure the 5-year-old child in his car.

"I haven't ever seen something like this before," police officer Wayne Burnett said Tuesday. "Sure, we get beer out of vehicles that is being taken into restricted areas but this is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child."

Burnett pulled the car over near the Outback town of Alice Springs to check if alcohol was being smuggled into an Aboriginal settlement where it's a prohibited item.

"He didn't get it," Burnett said. "There were four adults in the car, two in the front seat and two in the back seat, and in between those adults there was the carton of beer strapped in with the belt. The child was sitting in the lump in the centre, unrestrained."

Australia's ABC Radio reported that the driver was fined for driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle, and failing to ensure a child was wearing a seatbelt. (dpa)