Hardened bubble: Another smackdown for NSW-VIC border businesses
New strengthened border restrictions aim to keep residents safe, but are towns with zero cases suffering most?
With Victoria emerging from its fourth Covid-19 incursion from NSW in six weeks, it has been announced that residents in the Victoria-NSW border bubble can only enter Victoria without a permit if they are travelling for essential reasons. For many businesses in these border towns with zero Covid cases, these drastic measures are hurting.
On the decision, Minister for Health Martin Foley said: “With the outbreak in New South Wales still growing, the public health advice is clear: we need to limit unessential movement across the border into Victoria where it is practical and possible. We know this will affect many border residents, but so will another outbreak of the Delta variant on our doorstep – we need to keep our border residents and all Victorians safe.”
But Chris Fozard from Budget Motel Chain questioned the decision: “16 weeks of lockdowns, over 10,000 jobs lost, and $1 billion, yes BILLION has been lost from the Murray River economy (to March this year) due to the actions or inactions of the government(s) during this pandemic. A majority of the visitors to the Murray River region come from Melbourne, not Sydney. So why isn’t the border bubble green?”
He said: “We can have a travel bubble with New Zealand, but not with our border towns… It doesn’t make sense that we don’t yet have a unique plan for a unique region after nearly 20 months. It’s just not sustainable to continue down this path and family businesses are suffering because of it.”
Tourism Accomodation Australia (TAA) CEO Michael Johnson said the hotel industry has been bleeding for more than 16 months, and the situation today is the worst it has been since the pandemic began. He said border closures and lockdowns sap confidence, and even when hotels are allowed to open, the recovery will be slow.
“Hotels in the lockdown areas across NSW and now south-east Queensland are shut, with thousands of staff stood down. Staff have now been stood down on three occasions, and many are leaving the industry altogether for more certain industries. While the rooms sit empty, the bills keep piling up, and these venues no longer have the cash reserves they relied on to get through the lockdowns last year.”
Mr Johnson said: “Meanwhile, hotels in regional areas of NSW and many across Victoria are operating at sub 10 percent occupancy because of travel restrictions and interstate border closures. The pressure on owners and staff is enormous. While Victorian hotels are now able to trade, they will be extremely limited because hotels are the first to have restrictions imposed on them and will be the last to have them lifted. Even when our industry can open, capacity limits, masks, seated patron restrictions, border closures and international travel bans will remain.”
Mr Johnson said the joint state and federal support packages in Victoria and NSW were good news for smaller hotels. However, TAA is still liaising with the government about further support for larger hotel groups.
The new border restrictions changed from 11:59 pm Tuesday, August 3 to allow the border bubble arrangements to continue in a safe way for all Victorians. Under the changes, border bubble residents can only cross the border to enter Victoria without a permit for:
- necessary goods and services, including medical care and getting a Covid-19 test
- care and compassionate reasons
- paid or voluntary work (including for charitable and religious purposes)
- education (including childcare and early childhood services)
- getting a Covid-19 vaccination
- sport and exercise at a sporting club or at a sport or physical recreation facility (excluding alpine resorts).
People crossing the border to enter Victoria for one of the essential reasons must not travel further than reasonably necessary to undertake that activity. In other words, if you’re from Albury, you can’t shop in Wangaratta or Melbourne if you can get the essentials you need in Wodonga.
These permitted reasons also apply to Victorian border bubble residents who plan to enter New South Wales. They will need to have observed the permitted essential reasons for travel while in New South Wales if they wish to return to Victoria without a permit under the border bubble system.
The changes mean that border bubble residents can cross the border without a permit to get the essentials they need but not to visit a friend, go for a meal at a pub or go on holiday.
Travel for sport and exercise will be limited to the minimum number of people required to participate and run it, with spectator travel not permitted. Parents can transport their children for community sport.
Existing exceptions to obtaining a permit will continue to apply. These exceptions to the permit system allow a person to enter Victoria for certain reasons, including in emergencies or if they are escaping family violence.
If a Victorian border bubble resident has travelled to NSW or a NSW border bubble resident enters Victoria for a non-essential reason, they aren’t eligible for the border bubble permit exception and can be subject to a fine of up to $5,452.
Victoria’s border settings are always under review by the Chief Health Officer depending on Covid-19 risks at any given time and are subject to change. The current list of New South Wales and Victorian local government areas in the NSW-Victoria cross-border area remains unchanged.
These changes currently will not apply to the South Australian-Victoria cross-border area. All of New South Wales remains an extreme risk zone under Victoria’s travel permit system.
For more information, please visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au
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