THE argument against opening the South Australian border to the Mildura local government area (LGA) is losing weight given the falling number of COVID-19 cases in Victoria.

Member for Mildura Ali Cupper said the South Australian Government had been able to maintain an open border with NSW despite COVID-19 cases in that State exceeding Victoria’s on several days in the past fortnight.

The SA border remains open to NSW residents – who are able to travel to SA through Mildura provided they do not stop – with no need to isolate for 14 days on arrival.

 “There have been several days in the past couple of weeks where there have been similar or indeed more COVID-19 cases in NSW than Victoria,” Ms Cupper said.

“It seems somewhat strange that SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said NSW had done a ‘fantastic job of staying on top of outbreaks’ at the same time NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned her State is on the verge of another outbreak.

“For Mr Stevens to say Victoria remained in a ‘dire situation’ seems to ignore the data, particularly for regional Victorian and certainly for the situation in the Mildura LGA.

“The data says the Mildura LGA has not had an active COVID-19 case physically in the region since April.

“The situation here is not ‘dire’. I would content the border to SA could safely reopen to the Mildura LGA, given there are resources already at border crossings capable of conducting proper checks.”

Ms Cupper said border closure issues – to both SA and NSW – remained a significant challenge for people in the Mildura electorate.

“We are getting people contact us daily about these issues – it is causing huge angst and stress for people, and unnecessarily so,” she said.

“We need governments to realise the impact these closures continue to have, particularly at a time when the risk is clearly decreasing.

“The issue of a ‘border bubble’ to allow travel between Mildura and Broken Hill also needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”