A PETITION for the South Australian premier to set a date for the reopening of the border to rural and regional Victorians attracted more than 550 signatures in just 24 hours.
On Monday, Murrayville school teacher Kieren Brown started the change.org petition, which rapidly gained momentum, surpassing his original goal of 500 signatures.
“We live so close to the border and it affects everyone’s lives here,” Mr Brown said.
“The majority of students at the school have to have a weekly COVID test and that’s been going for a long time and it’s really taking its toll.
“I was feeling quite helpless and lost, and was always checking for (border) updates so thought I’d start a petition, thinking it’d be a good way to vent my frustrations.”
Mr Brown said residents of numerous communities and cities, including Mildura, Murrayville, Mount Gambier, Horsham, Adelaide and Melbourne, flooded the petition with “heartbreaking” comments about why they wanted an answer about opening the SA border.
Natasha Seacomb said: “Families deserve a chance to be together. The communities have been doing the right thing and are entitled to get some rights back.”
Kaye Dunstan wrote: “There are country people that desperately need to see specialists and have surgeries.”
Mr Brown, who moved from Adelaide to Murrayville in January to be closer to family in Pinnaroo and Bordertown, said he had also contacted a number of politicians and SA Premier Steven Marshall.
“We’re not demanding the border be opened, we just want to know why they’re not and when they might be,” he said.
“A lot of people are losing hope … to have some assurance would be really nice.”
Mr Brown said while Tuesday’s announcement of greater freedom for “border bubble” residents was a step in the right direction, it would not assist people who needed to attend medical appointments in Adelaide.
The petition can be found at bit.ly/2T9mTD7.
