STATE Member for Mildura Ali Cupper said the Victorian Government’s roadmap out of rolling lockdowns showed there is “a light at the end of the tunnel”.
“I think the indicative dates are helpful,” Ms Cupper said.
“People are thoroughly fatigued with the rolling lockdowns that have been going on for 18 months now.”
Premier Daniel Andrews unveiled Victoria’s “cautious” roadmap on Sunday, as the state recorded 507 new cases and another death, bringing the toll from the latest outbreak to 11.
While regional Victoria received some positive news, with VCAL students to return to classrooms, outdoor golf and tennis to return, and mask rules to be eased for beauty and hairdressers on or about September 26, when regional Victoria is expected to hit 80 per cent single-dosed vaccinations, the majority of restrictions will not be lifted until the entire state hits the 80 per cent double-dosed milestone.
“All roads lead back to vaccination,” Ms Cupper said.
“As the premier mentioned we could open up now but we would end up with an overwhelmed health sector and I don’t know why anyone would want to risk that.
“Why wouldn’t we want the protection of 80 per cent (full vaccination) given our health care workers here locally are more vulnerable to be overwhelmed than more populated areas?”
Ms Cupper said the Victorian Government’s roadmap was in step with the national plan to reopen.
“The key thing here is that these rules, as brutal as they feel, are based on health science, on the advice of the best health experts in the country and the world that if you want to protect lives and serious illness and to avoid your health systems becoming overwhelmed, then you need these sorts of benchmarks,” she said.
But Federal Member for Mallee Anne Webster said the roadmap should have gone further for COVID-free regions.
“I think to have a road map is a good thing, but where is the change for regional Victoria where there are little to no cases?” she asked.
“We (in Mildura) have done it tough by being constantly locked down and restricted when there have been either no cases or cases contained to one household. So no community spread in what, 18 to 20 months, and you have so many businesses who have gone under. It’s cruel.
“I’ve always said there should be a targeted, measured and proportionate response, but still we have ridiculous rules like 10 people in a venue that can sit up to 200. How is that proportionate? It’s not.
“People are not being compliant to rules they don’t agree with anymore.
“Are we creating a split personality in our society where we know what the rules are but don’t want to obey them? I won’t be pointing my finger at them.”
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton described the roadmap as a “tightrope” between protecting the health system and looking after the wellbeing of Victorians.
“There is no easy pathway,” he said.
