THE Victorian Government has been urged to end the lockdown “overreaction” in regional areas.
Speaking in Parliament this week, Member for Northern Victoria Tim Quilty said he did not understand why the regions faced the same restrictions as Melbourne.
“It has been months since there have been detected coronavirus cases in northern Victoria,” Mr Quilty said.
“If there is any argument in favour of continuing the lockdown in Melbourne — and I say there is not — there is no case for continuing to roll these things out in the regions, where there have not been any coronavirus cases for months,” he said.
“People in places like Mildura, Swan Hill, Echuca and Corryong simply do not catch public transport or pack into shopping centres the way that people in Melbourne do.”
Mr Quilty said he had severe concerns about the long-term effects of the lockdown.
“We need to return to normal as soon as possible,” he said.
“We need less COVID-19 theatre and more unlocking the chains of small business.
“It seems obvious to everyone that rural areas are less at risk of COVID-19 transmission than densely packed urban ones.”
Mr Quilty said the Andrews Government’s reaction to the coronavirus was a “mistake” and would have consequences for years to come.
“Ten weeks ago, the Victorian Government invoked their emergency powers to lock down the state and pound small businesses into the dust, to buy time and flatten the curve,” Mr Quilty said.
“We didn’t know what was happening then — now we do.
“The death rate is around 0.25 per cent — about the level of a bad flu year. Bad – but not bad enough.
“It is now quite clear the lockdown was a massive overreaction — a big mistake.”
Mr Quilty said that in regional Victoria, the absence of large-scale infections had seen thousands of communities suffer and those areas should be allowed to start rebuilding from the damage.
“The government needs to lift the lockdown – protect the elderly and the vulnerable by all means, and we should now be set up to do that properly – but allow everyone else to get back to work, try to get businesses restarted, and try to put lives and the economy back together.
“What are you doing to set low-risk regional businesses free from the arbitrary restrictions imposed on Melbourne?”
Local Government and Small Business Minister Adem Somyurek said he had been speaking to all regional councils.
“What I am getting back is that originally there was a lot of apprehension about city folk going to regional areas,” he said.
“We need to take a measured approach and a consistent approach.”
