Shannon Deery: Victoria has no choice but to take a world view

As NSW drops quarantine requirements and opens its borders to fully vaccinated international travellers, Victoria, by default will be forced to open up to the world.

Victoria is being dragged kicking and screaming into opening up to the world. Like it or not, that is the effect of the NSW decision to drop quarantine requirements and open its borders to fully vaccinated travellers from next month.

By default, Victoria will be forced to follow suit.

Because once the federal government officially opens international borders, fully vaxxed travellers wishing to come to Victoria will be able to fly into Sydney, then hop on a domestic flight straight into Melbourne. No hotel quarantine, no home quarantine, just a negative Covid test and happy days.

As it stands, when those changes come into effect in NSW, Melburnians will still be banned from travelling 25km from home.

Fully vaxxed travellers wishing to come to Victoria will be able to fly into Sydney, then hop on a domestic flight straight into Melbourne.

And regional Victorians are still banned from travelling to the state’s capital city.

The announcement – which came just 20 minutes before Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the state would drop its quarantine requirements for anyone coming here from a NSW red zone – stunned the Victorian government.

Had it come a day earlier, it’s conceivable the Victorian government may have delayed its announcement. Because there can be no turning back now without fierce political backlash from an increasingly lockdown-weary electorate.

Instead, the NSW move is expected to intensify pressure on Victorian health officials being urged to fast-track the state’s recovery roadmap.

Several senior ministers have been lobbying for greater freedoms sooner for Victorians, amid concerns about the state being left behind.

There is growing frustration among some members of cabinet over a perceived ultra-conservative attitude being driven by chief health officer Brett Sutton.

There is growing frustration among some members of Cabinet over a perceived ultra conservative attitude being driven by chief health officer Brett Sutton. Picture: Getty

There has also been frustration about the state’s focus on the vaccine passport, given it’s of little use when there’s nowhere to go.

Apart from unease about the ongoing removal of personal freedoms, senior ministers have become increasingly worried that if Victoria doesn’t start matching NSW, we will quickly find ourselves at a major competitive disadvantage across key sectors.

Mr Foley went into overdrive on Friday, spinning the line that what NSW does is very much a matter for NSW.

But simply batting away genuine queries as “matters for the NSW government” is to keep his head in the sand.

Because the announcement that NSW is opening up the world will have very real consequences for Victoria.

Originally published as Shannon Deery: Victoria has no choice but to take a world view