Small business owner devastated by Victoria-NSW border closure

A struggling small business owner on the NSW-Victorian border believes she is being punished for Covid-19 outbreaks in major cities.

A struggling small business owner on the NSW-Victorian border believes she is being punished for Covid-19 outbreaks in major cities.

Victorian officials yet again tightened restrictions for NSW border bubble residents this week.

The move has devastated border residents, with one warning she is just hanging on.

“I understand in theory the logic behind it, but the practicality and the reality is we have not had a single case in Albury-Wodonga, so I feel like we really are being punished,” small business owner Sally Laundess said.

“The business community here and a lot of people are just hanging on – everyone’s just in survival mode.”

Sally Laundess in her pilates studio in Albury on the Victorian-NSW border

Ms Laundess runs a pilates studio in Albury and closed down for three months last year during the first lockdown in Victoria and NSW.

After a tough few months, she was able to reopen with the support of JobKeeper but said multiple border closures and restrictions smashed her business.

Victorian lockdowns meant around half of her clients missed classes, and they were now unable to cross the border due to the crisis in NSW.

“I have lost count of the mini lockdowns, being in Albury we’ve been affected by each lockdown in Victoria,” Ms Laundess said.

“I’ve had this dream and passion to want to do something I love and contribute to the community to sometimes feeling like it’s easier to walk away because financially it’s been extremely stressful.

“The border bubble was about recognising we are two cities and one community, but now there is a divide.”

Police have ramped up enforcement efforts along the Victorian-NSW border in an attempt to stop the Delta strain entering the state. Picture: Simon Dallinger

Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh on Tuesday criticised the government for its decision to tighten the restrictions.

“It is absolutely the nail in the coffin for the hospitality industry and those cross-border communities,” Mr Walsh said.

“I think we need to bear in mind the border communities are 300km away from Melbourne and 700km away from Sydney. They have not had a Covid case in over 12 months now, why should they be made to suffer?”

Health Minister Martin Foley tightened restrictions between the border towns on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

Explaining the tough restrictions on Monday, Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said NSW officials had declined to put a ring of steel around Sydney, where the majority of cases were.

He said the risk of the Delta strain entering Victoria was too high and the measures were needed to protect Victorians.

Ms Laundess says her border community has been let down.

Ms Laundess said she had spent the past year trying her best to remain resilient, but there had been a noticeable economic effect for the towns.

“You do notice in the CBD there are a lot of empty shops,” she said.

“Morale is down across the board and with businesses there is a real sense of Covid fatigue and it’s just another change to adjust to.

“I think as a border community we’ve been let down.”

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Originally published as Small business owner devastated by Victoria-NSW border closure