SA border reopen to regional Victoria as lockdown ends

There is relief for the cross-border community as Premier Steven Marshall confirms SA is reopening to regional Victoria.

Premier Steven Marshall at the Royal Adelaide Hospital giving COVID press conference. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

South Australian premier Steven Marshall has confirmed the SA border will reopen to regional Victoria, effective from midnight Wednesday.

“There are no new cases of concern in Victoria, they will be lifting their stage four reactions as of midnight tonight,” Mr Marshall said.

“As we stated early in the week we would be removing our restrictions with the regional Victorian border at the same time so as of midnight tonight (Wednesday) that regional Victorian border will be removed.

“We will be keeping the greater metropolitan restrictions in place that will remain in place until that 14 days from the community exposure is eclipsed and at this stage will be the 25th, next Thursday.”

The news comes as a relief to the cross-border community after their day-to-day lives were thrown into chaos when the border slammed shut last Friday.

Victorian students from Nelson to Dartmoor and farming properties spotted along the border were forced to return to remote learning away from their SA classmates this week.

Tenison Woods College principal David Mezinec. Picture: Tenison Woods College

Tenison Woods College principal David Mezinec said 20 students across 12 families from Reception to Year 12 and a single staff member had been unable to attend school due to the border closure.

The Mount Gambier college quickly implemented online platforms to support students but he said yesterday it was important students returned to on campus learning as soon as possible.

“Last year we developed a really strong game plan that was called Connect at Tenison for these situations where we had to quickly move to online delivery,” Mr Mezinec said.

“While we’ve got the capacity to support children and adolescence pretty well, I think the best place for them is at school and engaging with their peers and learning face-to-face.

“We all appreciate the why, why it was done but there probably is some nuance there around how we can support the border families in Victoria better.

“It does make some significant challenges for our regional communities and particularly those who just live over the border who really identify with Mount Gambier and South Australia.”

Mount Gambier’s Madison Kilsby had only just arrived at her residential accommodation in preparation for her first year at Monash University when Melbourne’s hard lockdown was announced.

Mount Gambier High School graduate Madison Kilsby has spent her first week at Monash University in lockdown. Picture: Mount Gambier High School

In her first days living out of home she was thrust into isolation rather than the planned orientation week activities to meet her fellow students.

“I literal arrived as they made the announcement,” Ms Kilsby said.

“It’s a little bit scary because I’m in Melbourne and I don’t know one person.

“Not being able to talk to anyone is the biggest thing because I’m such a social person so it’s going to be hard at least if you were home with your family but I’m just by myself

The 18-year-old had already been forced to change her plans after SA border was closed to metropolitan Melbourne earlier in the week.

“My mum was meant to come up with me but because she couldn’t get back to SA I had to drive up myself,” she said.

Ms Kilsby knew moving to Melbourne was a risk but was still happy she had taken the plunge saying it could happen anywhere.