THE loosening of restrictions on Victoria’s border with South Australia and New South Wales is welcome, but highlights the need for a more practical and consistent border strategy.
Member for Mildura Ali Cupper said the SA Government’s announcement on Tuesday it would return to a 40km travel zone from midnight Thursday was a huge relief for border towns like Murrayville and Lindsay Point, but the situation should never have escalated.
“The restrictions introduced on Friday went too far and caused far more harm – in terms anxiety, stress and unbelievable upheaval for people in border communities – for no gain,” she said.
“There was no need to go to the tighter controls, so while I commend the SA Government on dialling back, it shows the ad-hoc approach state governments have adopted towards border closures can’t continue.
“There have been so many stories of people since Friday being denied access to South Australia on health reasons, compassionate reasons, for employment and education reasons. It just isn’t good enough.
“It shouldn’t take a National Cabinet meeting to put the premiers and the Federal Government on the same page.
“There needs to be far more communication between governments and certainly much greater communication with regional communities about decisions that impact their lives and livelihoods in such a devastating manner. This needs to happen before any decisions are made, not after the fact.”
Ms Cupper said the New South Wales Government announcement it would return to a 50km border zone within the next 10 days would also be welcome relief for border communities in the Mildura electorate.
“It has been a tireless effort since NSW announced its border closures to get concessions for our region, which included access to the Sturt Highway for commuters from Mildura to Robinvale; access for seasonal workers to NSW farms and fair and equitable border zones,” she said.
“Again, this shows the consultation should have been done before restrictions were put in place, not a running battle with community leaders, industry representatives and residents of border communities.
“Finally, we are starting to see a return to common-sense and proportionate border controls with both NSW and SA – and it’s about time.”
