‘Significant’ change to Vic-SA border rules: People allowed to travel freely up to 70km on either side
South Australians who have been stuck in Victoria will be finally be able to return from Saturday, under changes to the state’s hard border controls. Life is also set to get easier for cross-border community members.
Coronavirus
Don't miss out on the headlines from Coronavirus. Followed categories will be added to My News.
South Australians stuck in Victoria under the state’s hard border controls will be finally be permitted entry back home from Saturday.
Up until now, the state’s hard border meant South Australians had to apply for an exemption to return, with many applications being knocked back.
Under changes Police Commissioner Grant Stevens announced on Tuesday, cross border community members will also be able to travel up to 70km either side of the border for any reason – rather than for specific purposes such as work, education, shopping or health appointments.
“I think this is a significant concession for those people and should ease up their lifestyle requirements,” Mr Stevens said.
People living near the border have previously reported difficulties with the travel bubble, such as social isolation.
Paula Gust, whose Apsley farm abuts the SA border, said the changes would make a huge difference to cross-border community members.
She set up the Cross Border Call Out Facebook page to share her peers’ plight, and lobby for more leniency in the state’s tough border rules.
“It’s just a general feeling through this whole process that Victorians have been made to feel like germinators – you’re conscious of that when you see your friends sitting having lunch and you can’t sit down with them,” Ms Gust said.
“A lot of people will breathe a sigh of relief with this change.”
A State Government spokeswoman said, from midnight Friday, South Australians who have been stuck in Victoria can return, but must do 14 days’ quarantine on arrival. “This is the same for Victorians who are planning on relocating to South Australia,” she said. “We have said from the beginning of this pandemic, we do not want to keep our borders closed for a day longer than we have to.
“The health and safety of South Australians is our top priority. Border controls, national and state, are fundamental to plans to keep South Australia safe and strong.”
The changes apply to people returning or moving to SA permanently or for work – not for a holiday – providing they meet criteria around accommodation and employment.
They must still complete a cross-border travel approval form online.
Students can also come home after studying in Victoria. Lucindale woman Georgie McKay welcomed the announcement and said more certainty was needed around boarding students’ future ability to move between states during the holidays.
Mrs McKay moved the rest of her family to Victoria amid the July 20 border closure, so two of her sons – school boarders aged 17 and 13 – were not isolated.
“We stayed there until mid-September when we were finally granted permission to come home,” she said.
Nick McBride, MP for the South-East seat of MacKillop, and Davenport MP Steve Murray have been fielding regular calls from South Australians who have travelled to Victoria for work or family reasons but are unable to get home. Mr McBride said COVID-19 testing or quarantine should be used to allow Victorians to enter SA. “You should have access for those Victorians who come into SA with a criteria that doesn’t bring the disease into SA. As long as it’s done well and the disease doesn’t spread across the rest of the population, what’s wrong with that?”
Mr McBride said the cross-border travel area should be extended and the requirement for weekly COVID-19 tests eased.
On Tuesday, the Transition Committee also opened SA’s borders to New Zealand, and travellers from there will not have to quarantine when arriving in SA.
Mr Stevens said authorities “still struggled” with easing wide regional Victorian travel given the complexities and links with Melbourne.
‘We would like to accommodate regional Victoria but there are risks associated with that.
And we are trying to make those decisions that provide as much freedom and liberty for people in those regional areas without impacting on the public health of South Australia.”
“We are simply relying on advice that our chief public health officer provides us which is sourced from Victoria. We are continuing to watch but the indicators are they are certainly travelling in the right direction.
“They are still in a reasonably high state of restriction in Victoria so when they start to relax their restrictions we will look at how that impacts on us being able to allow, firstly being able to come back and quarantine for 14 days and then hopefully at some point in the near future to release that requirement to quarantine also.”
He said on Wednesday his preference would be to remove border controls across the country when it is safe to do so.
“My preference would be that we could see Victoria completely contained of the COVID-19 virus and actually we remove the border controls that are currently in place in South Australia and other jurisdictions around Australia.
“What we’re doing now I’d like to see as a temporary measure, and its gone longer than anyone probably anticipated, but it’s consuming resources for us … and its making it difficult for travellers.”
Travellers would still be required to provide detailed information about their work and permanent accommodation.
People transiting to Western Australia would also not be required to seek an exemption.
There are criteria such as accessing essential services or health care that would be relaxed.
He said there was debate about hospitality rules, such as standing up drinking in bars, but no changes were authorised. He said it was “back on the agenda” for next week’s meeting.
“We are reviewing it on a weekly basis,” he said.
