AS of 11.59pm last night, Victoria entered a five-day hard lockdown under stage 4 restrictions.
Once again, Premier Dan Andrews has included areas of Victoria that are hundreds of kilometres away from Melbourne.
We know that this strain of the virus is incredibly infectious, and it needs to be kept under control. But regional Victorians deserve to understand why we continue to be lumped in with Melbourne.
Mr Andrews compared his approach to similar lockdowns seen in Perth and Brisbane recently, however, these states used localised lockdowns.
Premier McGowan locked down Perth and south-west Western Australia. Premier Palaszczuk locked down Brisbane and south-east Queensland.
The lockdowns in these states were targeted and considered the effect on regional communities.
Businesses have closed, weddings have been cancelled, and funerals have been scaled back. The lives of regional Victorians are being disrupted because, once again, the Victorian Government have locked down the entire state.
In the short time since the announcement, small business owners and residents have contacted me, expressing their confusion, dismay and dissatisfaction with this lockdown and what it will mean for them.
To add insult to injury, the Australian Open is allowed to continue, albeit without crowds. This event flew in 1200 people to Australia, ahead of the queue for quarantine — ahead of desperately needed seasonal workers.
The tournament continues to be prioritised over regional cafes, restaurants and hairdressers 600km away from Melbourne. Regional communities are being held to ransom.
The Victorian Labor Government continues to ignore the disparity between regional and urban areas.
In Mildura we are more than 300 days without a reported case. And, I am sure that we will continue to do well because we are fundamentally responsible people who follow the rules in a commonsense way.
Going forward, we need to put an end to these knee-jerk reactions. The vaccine is the first step in this process. The more of us who receive the vaccine when available, the slower the spread of the virus in the community will be.
This will mean that we can put an end to these lockdowns, an end to border closures and return to a COVID normal life.
