Workers near the South Australia – Victoria border seek clarity on travel restrictions between the states
With the border closing overnight, many of the workers who cross it daily are still confused and worried about what it means for their jobs. Take our poll to have your say on the borders issue.
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Confusion surrounded the “hard border” closure with virus-ravaged Victoria as locals and industry leaders struggled to understand what daily life would look like under the changes.
The border closed overnight to all but essential travellers from Victoria, along with near-border community members.
Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub acting chairman Ian McDonnell said there was a lot of confusion about the legal travel arrangements and jobs could be lost if forestry suffered roadblocks to its operations.
Many forestry workers cross the Victorian border several times a day to service industry operations – and timber and woodchips are exported from Melbourne and Portland.
“Everybody wants to do the right thing but nobody knows what the right thing is,” Mr McDonnell said.
“We just want some clarity on what’s right and what’s wrong and what can and can’t happen.”
Mr McDonnell is director at NF McDonnell & Sons sawmill in Mount Gambier, which employs 120 people.
“We’re right in the middle of planting season, which is a very short window,” he said.
“The timber industry down here directly employs a couple of thousand people and it could be that up to a third of those travel across the border daily.
“I’m talking about people trying to work and feed their family. We’re all desperately trying to keep our businesses going.
“I’m very concerned about our community and lots of businesses in the region.”
The industry was seeking clarity on how the border closure would affect the sector, including which staff could cross the border and whether they would then have to self-quarantine after returning home each day – which might result in people deciding not to work.
“These sort of things, if they take them to the letter of the law, will shut down our whole economies,” Mr McDonnell said.
Peter Gandolfi, chairman of the Limestone Coast branch of Regional Development Australia, said locals had been able to cross the border fairly easily up until now, but expected that would become more difficult. But, the measures were understandable, he said.
“If we had an outbreak in Mount Gambier, what that would do to our local economy on top of the health impacts would be devastating,” he said.
The closure was likely to impact the retail and hospitality sectors.
“There will be a social effect as well as an economic effect to the region. There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of the stress in the community and we need to be mindful of those that are doing it tough.”
At the border east of Mount Gambier yesterday, Beaurepaires store manager Kevin Toohey was travelling from SA to Victoria. He expected to see police checking vehicles on the way out, but nobody was there. However, police were checking cars going into town.
“I have a permit to work but I don’t know if it still applies,” he said.
“I’m not crossing the border until I know I can come back. If I have to isolate for 14 days I can but there’s nobody to run the store.”
Kalganyi Holiday Park owner Gavin Fraser said the closure would have limited impact on his Mount Gambier business as most holiday-makers came during the warmer months.
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said Victorians living in communities close to the border would be restricted to a 50km radius to carry out daily duties within SA. Authorities are producing maps to demonstrate these areas.
Police are still determining which border roads will completely.
“We won’t have additional inside check points on the 50km border but anyone found breaching that 50km radius is exposing themselves to a $1000 fine or further action if necessary,” a spokesman said. Police said forestry workers would need to apply online if they wanted to cross the border and return.
SA Health on Wednesday announced a ninth day of zero cases.
Authorities urged people to get tested as the number of checks hit 165,600 but ruled out mandatory tests for travellers legally crossing Victoria’s border – a measure Labor Leader Peter Malinauskas has called for.