Federal Member for Mallee Anne Webster has questioned the purpose of tightened border restrictions for Victorian-New South Wales border bubble residents.
“Border residents have been collateral damage for State Premiers in their efforts to outdo each other in locking down their communities to control the virus,” Dr Webster said.
“We now see the Victorian government applying tightened rules for NSW border residents to cross into Victoria within the existing bubble. These people are not Sydneysiders, they are our border colleagues, teammates, educators, and medical professionals. They are a part of our intertwined communities.”
Dr Webster’s comments came after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced that there were now only six reasons border bubble residents could cross the border.
She said the rules were now “only slightly more lenient than a hard lockdown”.
“There is no logical reason for this when the data clearly shows there are no cases in the southern border region of NSW,” she said.
“NSW residents can cross the river to work in an office with their Victorian colleagues all day, but are not allowed to go out for lunch with them. Where is the logic of this additional restriction?
“This decision is unreasonably impinging on the rights of border residents, has no supporting evidence in the case data available, and will have a negative effect on border business that are still struggling to recover from previous lockdowns.”
