MEMBER for Northern Victoria Tania Maxwell is putting pressure on the Victorian government to lift restrictions in coronavirus-free areas like Sunraysia.
Ms Maxwell called on the Government to rethink heavy restrictions on regional areas, saying there were “no compelling reasons for continued lockdowns imposed on regional communities where there are simply no active cases”.
She suggested a traffic light-style model based on local government areas would provide a more targeted approach to COVID-19 containment, while helping open up LGAs without community transmission.
Changes Ms Maxwell suggested include reopening schools and businesses and limiting mask requirements in areas with few active cases.
“Regional areas with low (and in some cases no) coronavirus cases need to be able to get back to business and back to school,” Ms Maxwell said.
She said the ongoing financial and mental impacts of COVID-19 in regional communities drove her to push for lighter restrictions, with “thousands” of constituents reaching out for help.
“People from Northern Victoria are strongly telling me that they want responses targeted to regional areas, not the blanket approach that we are currently under and that has forced the closure of thousands of businesses in areas with no cases,” Ms Maxwell said.
Ms Maxwell rejected the government’s call for a 12-month extension to the state of emergency.
However, following “positive” discussions with the government over the weekend, she was hopeful they would reconsider current restrictions and increase support for hard-hit regional communities.
Premier Daniel Andrews has committed to unveiling Victoria’s roadmap out of restrictions this Sunday.
