MURRAYVILLE residents are up in arms after harsh new South Australian border measures cut them off from their main service centre.
The Mallee town, 20km from the South Australian border and heavily reliant on Pinnaroo a further 7km into South Australia, is now more isolated than ever after the South Australian Government this week announced from August 21 cross-border residents will be able to enter South Australia only as essential travellers.
Exemptions will be granted for farmers whose properties span the border, Year 11 and 12 students and people with other health-approved exemptions.
Schools will reportedly implement home learning for affected interstate students.
The essential traveller definition is shaping as a problem for Murrayville-born Synon Peers.
Mr Peers lives in Murrayville but owns two Victorian Government school bus contracts that both service South Australian families and is the owner-manager of Peers Motors in Pinnaroo.
It is unclear whether his travel would qualify as essential.
“I’m assuming and hoping I’ll get some form of exemption as a key player in the food chain because the farmers can’t drive their tractors with flat tyres,” Mr Peers said.
“I’ve got excellent staff and (business) will go along OK without me actually there and we can do things on the phone, but it’s not ideal.
“We’ll definitely take a hit because businesses don’t work 100 per cent without their managers there, especially small family businesses like us.”
At present residents in the cross-border zone, which includes Murrayville, are able to get permits to cross up to 40km into South Australia for employment, education, providing and receiving care or support, obtaining food, petrol, medicine and other supplies — provided they get a coronavirus test every seven days.
Bianca Niejalke, who with husband Wayne lives on a farming property that straddles the border, will be able to get a new permit to service the family farm only.
“At the moment Pinnaroo is our main service centre — we access our doctors there, childcare, shopping, pharmacy, mail, everything is in Pinnaroo,” she said.
“We’re not entirely sure what the new ag exemption will entail — we’re not sure if that will allow us to collect supplies, or will it only allow us to go to the farm with our equipment and do what we need to do with the supplies we have, then return home to Victoria.”
Now to be cut off from Pinnaroo, Murrayville residents will need to use services in either Ouyen, which is 100km away or Mildura, more than 200km away.
That includes petrol.
“My family used to have the workshop and Holden dealership and petrol station in Murrayville — for three generations,” Mr Peers said.
“We don’t have fuel there now because our tanks started to leak five to six years ago and it’s a very expensive thing to fix.
“No fuel in Murrayville is not a new thing but now people are forced to go to Ouyen for health care — for that sort of stuff — but can’t get fuel to get there.”
Mr Peers questioned the need for such harsh measures in an isolated region with no known coronavirus cases.
“It’s not going to save South Australia from coronavirus, let’s get that fact straight,” he said.
“Keeping Murrayville people specifically out of South Australia is going to have zero effect on the situation in SA.”
