Government under fire as sick elderly Victorians are stuck in NSW

Seriously ill Victorians stuck in NSW fear they will not be home for Christmas as the state’s watchdog launches an urgent investigation.

John and Lorraine Bradbury are trapped in a caravan park near Grafton after two applications to cross the Victorian border to return to their home in Torquay were rejected.

Seriously ill elderly Victorians are stuck on the NSW side of the border, some having applied four times to get home.

Thousands of Victorians have been in NSW since the Victorian Government slammed the border shut on July 9.

It comes as the Victorian Ombudsman announced it would investigate interstate travel permits and exemptions on Wednesday after receiving more than 80 complaints.

Torquay’s John Bradbury, 78, has been stuck in a caravan park in Wooli with his wife Lorraine, 79, since June and both are fully vaccinated.

Despite Mr Bradbury having a serious and worsening heart condition that saw him hospitalised in Grafton on September 3, they have been refused exemptions twice.

They say they were unable to make it back in time before the border shut and travelled with a defibrillator but the added stress of being stuck had worsened Mr Bradbury’s heart condition.

Mrs Bradbury said they had received no explanation following the rejections but were told they could contact Lifeline if the decisions distressed them.

About to speak with @3AWNeilMitchell about the Victorian Govt’s shocking border failures.

Lorraine Bradbury, with her husband John who has a serious heart condition, has been trying to get home for more than 6 weeks.

This is her desperate plea to @DanielAndrewsMP. pic.twitter.com/TSpcZXMP0d

— Senator Sarah Henderson (@SenSHenderson) September 15, 2021

The Bradburys say it is incomprehensible the state government had not saved trapped Victorians.

“I‘m angry at the fact that this insidious rule prevents me as a citizen from returning home,” Mr Bradbury said.

“I thought this was Australia. To stop you going home, on a border crossing … I find that offensive to be quite frank,” Mr Bradbury said.

Phillip Island’s Vanna and Cameron Watters, also stuck in Wooli, have had one application refused and fear being stuck in a caravan park during the NSW school holidays.

“We don‘t know what to do now,” Mrs Watters said.

“We don’t know whether to move further south. We don’t know whether to stay out here … we’ve moved from a large caravan park to the smallest one we can find … I feel like we could be spending Christmas here.”

Geelong couple Denis and Katrina Leahy, who have been stuck in Albury since August 12, are also concerned about the risk of a potential superspreader event.

“Until now we have been able to stay in our park relative safety,” Mr Leahy said.

Geelong couple Denis and Katrina Leahy.

“I fear for our safety and believe we are being put in a dangerous and precarious position with hundreds of people from anywhere in NSW returning to caravan parks for holidays.”

Mr Leahy said he was begging the government to return them home before the spread of Covid caught up with them in Albury.

Mr Leahy’s fears were realised when Albury reported two positive Covid cases on Wednesday morning.

In Lismore, Ballarat’s Allan Meers said he had been rejected twice despite needing to return home for overdue medical treatment.

Mr Meers said he had intended to stay for a week in NSW to visit a friend who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, but the border closure forced him to stay for nine weeks.

Ballarat man Allan Meers (left) and terminally ill friend Nick.

Mr Meers also fears not being able to return home in time for Christmas.

Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass said the situation was increasingly urgent and the investigation launched on Wednesday.

The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

“Some people are telling my office they face effective homelessness, stuck interstate with nowhere else to go,” Ms Glass said.

“This will be a swift investigation to help the department identify if urgent improvements are needed in processes and decision making.”

Victorian Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson described the situation as a national disgrace.

“It’s not just individual cases. This is systemic. I cannot believe Daniel Andrews is presiding over this happening in our state,” she said.

“I am very pleased that the ombudsman is inquiring … this is a very serious situation.

“A number of people suffering serious mental health impacts and effective homelessness. I cannot believe the heartless and callous decision making of the Victorian Government.

“I call on Daniel Andrews to immediately issue permits to Victorians so they can return home. This is their fundamental right.”

Leader of the Nationals and Regional Victoria Shadow Minister Peter Walsh said his Murray Plains office had been inundated with pleas for help from Victorians trapped across the border.

“It’s simple; open the bloody border. This is so un-Australian and beyond belief that in the 21st century we have a Premier hiding behind emergency powers and refusing to let fellow Victorians come home,” he said.

The Victorian Government was contacted for comment.

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