As many as 50 truck drivers turned back at Victorian border after they failed to get COVID-19 tests
Victorian truck drivers want to be allowed in to SA without proof of a COVID-19 test, saying inconsistencies in laws and SA’s tough border rules risk shutting down freight.
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Victorian truckies are calling for SA to drop its requirement for proof of a COVID-19 test as an entry condition, saying the rules risk shutting down freight.
Drivers coming from Victoria and NSW are required to either show proof of a test from within the past seven days, or get tested within 24 hours of entering SA.
More than 40 trucks were turned back at Bordertown on Tuesday, with police saying they had been repeatedly entering with no proof of a test.
Victorian Transport Association chief executive Peter Anderson said under Victorian law, only those with symptoms could get tested, and those tested must quarantine until they received results.
The association says inconsistencies in the states’ laws means drivers must either flout Victorian or SA law in order to work, risking huge fines.
Mr Anderson said the issue was causing “havoc” at the border, with the Bordertown and Tailem Bend testing stations closed when drivers entered.
“If the situation persists, it is inevitable that freight bound for South Australia from Victoria will start to reduce,” he said.
“If common sense cannot prevail perhaps all deliveries from Victoria into SA should stop for up to seven days? It sounds extreme but how else are we going to get the message through?”
SA Road Transport Association executive officer Steve Shearer supported moves to turn back interstate drivers who did not comply with COVID-19 testing requirements, but also called for testing stations to be open for longer to fit in with truckies’ working hours.
“They were flouting the law and thinking they could get away with it,” Mr Shearer said of the drivers.
“Good on the police for sending them back.”
Mr Shearer said one solution was introducing testing stations at border checkpoints on major transport routes.
“We either hold a firm line and say you can’t come in or we have a way of ensuring they’re getting the test and the only way to do that is they have a testing facility immediately available,” he said.
A SA Police spokeswoman confirmed “a number of” trucks were turned around at Bordertown, when drivers could not provide evidence of having a coronavirus test.
“SAPOL continues to work closely with the transport industry and drivers and provide more education and instruction for those drivers to get tested at testing stations such as the one established at Tailem Bend.”
SA Police said any call to relax the requirements for truck drivers was a matter for the Transition Committee.
SA Pathology said it constantly adapted its COVID-19 testing services to respond to demand. “SA Pathology rapidly established mobile testing clinics to used solely for testing of people crossing the Victoria border and we anticipate further vans to be added to the cohort in the near future.”