Border permits put pressure on Echuca-Moama community

The permits are valid for 14 days from the date of entry into Victoria and can be used for multiple trips.

“It is not good enough to limit movement. We need to know who is moving,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday.

“Logic tells you there is every chance that it comes to those border, those southern NSW communities, and then there is a potential risk of coming into Victoria. We need to have as much information as possible about who is moving in that border bubble.”

Murray River Council Mayor Chris Bilkey said the permit system was placing further pressure on the Echuca-Moama community to sustain businesses.

“The feedback we’ve had from the community is businesses on our side are decimated,” he said.

“It’s not just the fact there’s no customers coming in the door, but they spend all their time trying to adjust supplies.

“What we’re also finding is businesses who’ve applied for the grants available from the NSW Government are frustrated by the long delays in having their applications processed; in the meantime, they’re just bleeding money.”

Campaspe Shire Council Mayor Chrissy Weller said border residents would “do what we have to do”.

“We ask people to get organised or seek help with their permits. It is confusing trying to work through Victoria requirements and then NSW requirements as well,” she said.

She said she was working with state government agencies to “get the message across that [the border region] is low-density and low-risk” to make life easier for residents on either side of the river.

Cr Weller also said local government was working to try to make the Echuca-Moama region — which hasn’t recorded a positive COVID-19 case in 2021 — safer.

“No area is no-risk, but we want to look at what we can do to make the area more safe, whether that’s getting more vaccines up here so we can say ‘we’re at 80 per cent vaccinated’ or support businesses who are trending towards they will become totally vaccinated workplaces,” Cr Weller said.

“We need people to do the right thing so that people will want to come to our whole shire.”

Echuca Moama Tourism chief executive Kathryn McKenzie said it was tough times for the industry.

“We’re one town and we rely on the population from either side of the river to sustain this destination,” she said.

“I just call on our locals to do what they can to support local and keep hospitality and retail alive where they can.

“The permit system really impacts the brand of Echuca-Moama and people are staying away from borders because they don’t want to be caught out.”

To apply for a permit visit , enter your details and select ‘cross-border extreme risk zone permit’.service.vic.gov.au/services/border-permit/home

The permitted reasons for border bubble residents to cross the border into Victoria are;