Locked out: Residents from Edward River Council, Shepparton and Bendigo are among those cut from Victoria's border bubble. Photo: Steve Huntley.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
The NSW Cross Border Commissioner says the Victorian Government’s decision to cut eight local government areas, including Edward River Council, out of the border bubble is unnecessary and perplexing.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
From 11.59 pm on Thursday, September 2, residents of Greater Bendigo, Greater Shepparton, City of Benalla, Buloke, Loddon, Yarriambiack, Broken Hill and Edward River will no longer be eligible for the ‘cross-border extreme risk zone permit’ to enter Victoria or return from NSW.
The decision was attributed to the risk NSW poses to Victoria, with over 1000 cases per day and “a trajectory of exponential growth”.
NSW Cross Border Commissioner James McTavish said the changes were harsh and questioned why Edward River Council in particular had been removed.
“There’s no cases in Edward River Council and we don’t understand the Victorian Government’s rationale behind this,” he said.
“We can understand concern about COVID in NSW, it’s a concern we all share, but there’s no evidence to say Edward River Council in particular presents any risk to Victoria.
“In fact, the opposite could be said — there is a substantial COVID outbreak in and around Shepparton.”
The changes mean anyone not in the border bubble who has been in NSW during the past 14 days cannot enter Victoria without an exemption, exception or a valid permit (specified worker permit, cross border extreme risk zone permit or transit permit).
This applies to Victorian residents and non-Victorian residents, and conditions still apply for those with an exemption or exception, including 14 days of quarantine.
Mr McTavish said NSW residents who were not in the border bubble anymore could still access medical care, and medical workers could still go to work across the border.
“Medical treatment is still available, but they need to have a booking and be able to demonstrate it’s not otherwise available in NSW,” he said.
“It’s really important people continue with their normal medical care arrangements, in line with the Victorian Department of Health protocols.”
Mr McTavish expects a number of people will be restricted in their ability to go to work, both those outside and inside the new border bubble.
“For example, people who live in Moama but work in the Edward River Council area are not able to enter Victoria now unless they are accepted or exempted [because they have travelled beyond the border bubble],” he said.
“If they have family or business obligations in Victoria, they’re having to make hard decisions about where they travel.
“It also means for those Victorian residents [now outside the bubble] that provide services into places like Moama or Tocumwal, they won’t be able to do so because on return to Victoria they need to go into 14 days' hotel quarantine.”
NSW Cross Border Commissioner James McTavish.
Photo by
NSW Government
Going forward, Mr McTavish said he’d like to see the needs of border communities “adequately represented”.
“NSW recognises these communities are highly interconnected,” he said.
“They went through a tough patch last year where NSW imposed some substantial restrictions but I think the NSW Government has learned a lot from that and is applying a much more targeted and measured approach.”
People who breach Victoria’s border rules face fines of more than $5000 and may be sent into hotel quarantine.
