Border closure panic must stop, it’s now costing lives
A stupid snap decision to close the border has caused a fatal truck smash. What a tragic and needless waste of life.
Susie O'Brien
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BORDER closure chaos has taken a deadly turn and seemingly caused a fatal truck smash.
The South Australian Government must take some of the responsibility for the collision that caused at least one death.
Snap border closures lacking any predictable or reasonable justification must end.
As we saw early Thursday, mayhem ensues when people are given just a few hours to get across a border checkpoint or face lengthy quarantines.
Witnesses say there were crazy scenes at the SA/Victoria border as cars and trucks rushed to get across the line by midnight.
It was an impossible task given that the same witnesses claim only three police officers were on duty.
The accident occurred when three trucks collided just before 2.30am. The trucks caught fire and one of the drivers died at the scene. He is yet to be identified.
What a tragic and needless waste of life.
There was no need for such a drastic decision to be made to close the border with so little notice.
People should have been given time to get across if they needed to in a safe and orderly way.
Especially in a situation such as this when the COVID outbreak they are responding to contains, to this moment, not one case of transmission within the community but all within the hotel quarantine setting.
The problem is that border closures are issued at the whim of individual premiers according to their political imperatives, not the needs of the community.
According to eyewitness reports, queues of cars trying to cross the border reached 10kms and obscured the view of drivers.
It’s not enough for SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens to say there are “always going to be obstructions on our roads”.
What a disgraceful cop-out for poor decision making by SA Premier Steven Marshall.
Federal guidelines mandating when, how and for how long borders are closed are urgently needed to ensure there is no repeat of last night’s chaotic and deadly scenes.
Stupidity shouldn’t cost lives.
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