MILDURA Regional Development (MRD) is pressing governments to relax the “hard-and-fast” rule that prevents Victorians using the Murray River in New South Wales.
Chief executive Brett Millington said houseboat operators and paddleboats were able to get access to the river from the Victorian side of the border for about a week after NSW closed its border.
However, he said a change to the rules now prevented that happening, even though much of regional Victoria remained free of COVID-19 cases.
“Due to the border closures it has been quite significant in terms of impacts on tourism, that’s for sure,” Mr Millington said.
“We’re trying to assist businesses that are Murray River-related, such as houseboats and paddlesteamers, in terms of influencing the ability of Victorians to access the river,” he said.
“For the first week following the NSW border closure, they were still able to access the river from the Victorian side and then it changed to people requiring permits within the border bubble.
“So even if someone was coming from an area like Warrnambool to Mildura, which people are allowed to do, they are not allowed to board a houseboat from Victoria and travel regardless because they wouldn’t have that permit.
“The hard-and-fast rule is that you require that permit, so therefore that rules out most people unless you’re a resident of one of those border towns.”
Mr Millington said these were among the challenges MRD was trying to address on behalf of businesses affected by COVID-19 and associated restrictions.
He said the organisation was also considering pressing for an easing of border restrictions on the Mildura local government area with both NSW and South Australia.
“What we are thinking about is what are the opportunities that might exist in the next couple of weeks if we are still able to remain not impacted by COVID,” he said.
“There may be the potential to perhaps have a reactivation of the borders to South Australia and New South Wales for residents from our part of the world.
“That would then put us in a bit of a travel bubble with those states and open up opportunities, given Melbourne is in lockdown.”
Mr Millington said that, for example, Mildura LGA residents could be excused from the 14-day isolation period travelling into NSW or South Australia to enable residents to travel between the two more freely.
“People from our region had been travelling to Adelaide quite frequently for education or medical purposes and those sorts of things and we’re probably more part of South Australia in that regard than we are Victoria,” he said.
“Obviously it’s a pretty significant impact on us at the moment, but I think there’s probably a greater chance of re-establishing travel routines with South Australia and NSW into Mildura than from southern Victoria.
“From a local perspective there would also be less anxiety that’s associated with that than what there would be for people returning from Melbourne.”
But Mr Millington said these possibilities remained only if Mildura LGA residents remained diligent about COVID-19 precautions.
“The messaging at the moment is very much about being aware of the need for vigilance and reinforcing the social distancing, the use of sanitisers and those sorts of things, regardless of where you are or who you are.”
