MEMBER for Mildura Ali Cupper is calling for the Mildura electorate to be exempt from mandatory mask wearing outside.
Ms Cupper is calling for the change to the mask rules provided social distancing measures can be followed due to the region’s “unique climate”
“We are heading for our first hot weather of spring over the next couple of days with temperatures of 33, 35 and 33 forecast for consecutive days from Friday,” she said.
“We are the only part of the state which will be experiencing temperatures like this, and it’s only going to get hotter as we head further into spring and summer.
“I am calling on the Victorian Government to make concessions for our region given these unique circumstances, by requiring people to wear masks only when inside.”
Premier Daniel Andrews during his press conference on Thursday acknowledged mask wearing would become more challenging moving into summer.
He also said the government would consider different rules based on risk.
“It really needs to be acknowledged that summer in the Mildura electorate is vastly different to summer in Melbourne,” Ms Cupper said.
“We are the only part of the state where we regularly have temperatures in the mid-40s – sometimes for days on end – and the prospect of wearing masks while outside in that sort of heat, I would contend, is more than just ‘challenging’.”
Ms Cupper said the feedback she had been getting from local residents was a growing concern about wearing masks in stifling heat.
“I have always advocated for rules that are proportionate to risk – and facts show that the risk of the virus spreading is lower outdoors,” she said.
“I was an advocate of mask-wearing when the numbers of active cases in both metropolitan Melbourne and parts of regional Victoria were in the hundreds.
“But now that those numbers have fallen substantially – and continue to do so – I believe it’s time to relax the rules.”
