Dob them in: Disgraceful Melburnians sneaking into Victorian regional towns

Melburnians are flouting lockdown laws and sneaking into regional Victoria, with business owners forced to turn away rude escapees.

Fifteen people from Melbourne were turned away from Daylesford’s Hotel Frangos over three days this week. Picture: Supplied

Regional Victorian businesses are fighting back against Melburnians sneaking into their towns; turning them away and threatening to dob them in.

There have been reports of some “disgraceful” Melburnians reacting rudely to being asked to leave regional businesses and shouting “I am from Hawthorn (or) . . . I am from Brunswick”.

Restrictions lifted in regional towns on Tuesday and Melburnians face stiff fines for flouting lockdown rules and fleeing the city.

But regional centres were put back on high alert on Friday night and Saturday, with Covid fragments detected in wastewater in some areas.

And regional mayors have said their calls for Melburnians to stay away are falling on deaf ears.

They are urging police to step up patrols, to catch and fine flouters.

Daylesford business owners reported a surge in Melburnians flocking to the popular tourist town over past days.

Daylesford businesses have been forced to turn away Melburnians. Picture: Andy Rogers

Hotel Frangos manager Pepe Baaziz said he had refused service to 15 people from Melbourne over just three days this week.

“On Friday morning my staff had to kick out five people because they were from Melbourne,” he said.

“It’s difficult for us as a business. We need this lockdown to work. Please stay away, we would love to welcome you back later this year.”

Albert Guest House and Mills Apartments owner Ziggy Kelevitz said Daylesford’s population could double on weekends when lockdowns weren’t in place.

“But we can’t afford that during lockdown,’ he said.

“A number of cafes in town have had lots of people shouting at staff members after they got refused access for not getting let in.

‘They will shout out ‘I am from Hawthorn, I am from Brunswick’. It’s disgraceful.’

“They will shout out ‘I am from Hawthorn, I am from Brunswick’. It’s disgraceful. We don’t want these people here during the lockdown. Stay in Melbourne. Come visit afterwards.”

Albert Guest House and Mills Apartments owner Ziggy Kelevitz says Daylesford does not want visitors from Melbourne right now. Picture: Supplied

“Daylesford businesses have been suffering during lockdown, we would love the extra business, but if had we had one case of Covid get in from Melbourne, it could jeopardise our whole town.”

Borough of Queenscliffe mayor Ross Ebbels said there was an influx of people travelling to the region during last year’s lockdown, and it remained a concern.

“With Melbourne people not being able to go to the snow ... it would be harder to sneak into the alpine region rather than sneak to their holiday houses so that’s a concern,” Cr Ebbels said.

“With community sporting events not going ahead, there’s less things for people that normally they might be busy doing.

‘It’s harder to sneak into the alpine region than sneak to holiday houses’

“So they might just want to get out of the house and come down to the holiday house.”

Cr Ebbels said many holiday homes in the region had been in families for generations, but Melburnians should stay away from their coastal pads during lockdown.

“From our point of view, we’re the oldest community in the country so we’re quite vulnerable in that regard to our population,” he said.

“A lot of these people have family and friends who live permanently in the Borough of Queenscliffe so we’d like to think that they’ll do the right thing by themselves and for people down here in the borough.”

Queenscliff mayor Ross Ebbels says Melburnians must stay away from their coastal holiday pads during lockdown, to protect the town’s elderly population. Picture: Alan Barber

Surf Coast Shire mayor Libby Stapleton urged Melburnians to wait for lockdown to lift before travelling to the shire.

“Now is not the time for Melburnians to head to holiday homes or to travel to our region, so please stay home to help keep everyone safe,” she said.

Cr Stapleton said the Surf Coast had many part-time residents who were unable to enjoy the region while in lockdown in Melbourne.

“They are such an important part of our community too, and we miss them as much as I’m sure they miss us,” she said.

“Hopefully, if everyone follows the health guidelines, we will be able to welcome them back soon.”

City of Greater Geelong mayor Stephanie Asher, whose region includes the coastal towns of Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, said Victorians needed to follow the directions in place for their area.

“I hope it won’t be too long before everyone can travel freely around Victoria again,” she said.

Even though Bass Coast Shire had not received many complaints regarding holiday home residents during this lockdown, mayor Brett Tessari urged people to notify Victoria Police if they had concerns.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said 200 extra police had been deployed to regional fringe areas this week.

“Our focus is to ensure people from Melbourne do not travel to regional Victoria unless they have an exemption to do so,” she said.

Phillip Island residents are being urged to dob in Melburnians sneaking to their holiday homes or to the island for daytrips. Picture: Supplied

“Roving patrols will be saturating the regional borders instead of using fixed checkpoints.

“This model has worked exceptionally well along the state border and gives us the flexibility to patrol main arterials and back roads.

“We know it is usually only the people doing the right thing who travel on the main roads – those trying to sneak out of Melbourne usually drive through the back roads – so this enforcement approach allows us to patrol both areas.”

The spokeswoman said the use of automatic number-plate recognition technology allowed police to quickly stop anyone from Melbourne.

However, the Herald Sun is aware of cases of young adult children who live in Melbourne but drive cars still registered to their regional family homes, using this as a loophole to avoid detection.

Police said regional police officers were on the hunt for law-breakers.

Melburnians face $5452 fines for anyone found in breach of the chief health officer’s directions.