‘I’ll build a wall’: SA Premier escalates border war with Victoria

The South Australia Premier has escalated the border war with Victoria, suggesting he’ll build a wall and send their neighbours the bill.

The border war between South Australia and Victoria has escalated with SA Premier Steve Marshall saying he will build a wall and send his Victorian counterpart the bill.

This comes a day after the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews ignited a cross-border war of words following Mr Marshall’s announcement he was reopening three state borders this week.

The borders did not include Victoria, causing Mr Andrews to lash out.

South Australia’s apparent snub of Victoria comes amid that state’s recent rise in COVID-19 cases, with 18 people testing positive in the last 24 hours, including one who attended Melbourne’s Black Lives matters protest two weeks ago – the third protester to test positive.

In an interview on Adelaide’s Hit 107 radio’s Bec and Cosi show, Mr Marshall half-jokingly defended his decision to start reopening borders just to two states and one territory for now, with coronavirus under control in his state.

“I tell you what. I’m really contemplating building a wall and making them pay for it,” he said.

Radio host Rebecca Morse replied, “Oh, he’s going to do a Trump.”

Marshall told Hit 107 that after lifting the border closures at midnight on Wednesday with Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania, “Queensland will be next, then ultimately obviously NSW, ACT and Victoria”.

The change means travellers would no longer need to isolate themselves for 14 days when they arrive in South Australia.

Border wars continue as SA Premier Steve Marshall hit back after his Victorian counterpart took a swipe after an apparent border snub. Picture: Mark Brake

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But Mr Andrews had earlier responded to Mr Marshall’s announcement on Wednesday with a swipe, saying, “I don’t want to be offensive to South Australians but why would you want to go there?

“Holiday here … the best experiences in our nation are right here in Victoria.

“Go skiing, go to the wine country, go down the beach, whatever it might be.

“Victorians I think will be very keen to be close to home this school holidays, over this period.”

Speaking live on air to Rebecca Morse and Andrew “Cosi” Costello, Mr Marshall alluded to the current Victorian Labor Party scandal, which has seen three of Andrews’ ministers resign.

“Oh look he’s got his hands full in Victoria at the moment, you might have seen a few issues bubbling up over there,” Mr Marshall said.

“I think he was going to do anything he could to create a bit of a diversion, so that’s what happens in politics when you get in that sticky brown stuff.

“Look the reality is we did have to put the state borders in place.

“We’ve done really, really well as a state because of putting in those state borders. They’ve kept us very, very clear of coronavirus versus just about anywhere else in the country.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews insulted South Australia amid a spike in coronavirus cases and his party’s branch-stacking scandal. Picture: James Ross

I lived in Melbourne for five years. Weather is freezing, sand on the beaches is like dirt, real estate prices are exorbitant and I spent half my time there stuck in traffic on Punt Road.

— Rebecca Morse (@RebeccaMorse10) June 17, 2020

The Yarra makes the Torrens look pristine

— Col James (@ColinJamesTiser) June 17, 2020

“So we’ve been very happy, but it is time to start lifting them and that’s why we announced (border openings) earlier in the week.

Look, I hope they (Victoria) do really well; I hope they can get their numbers down.

“It’s in Australia’s interests if they can tackle that coronavirus as we have here in South Australia.”

On Twitter, the border war fired up further after Rebecca Morse tweeted about Melbourne’s bad points, posting: “I lived in Melbourne for five years.

“Weather is freezing, sand on the beaches is like dirt, real estate prices are exorbitant and I spent half my time there stuck in traffic on Punt Road.”

Three demonstrators from Melbourne’s June 6 Black Lives Matter protest have now tested positive to COVID-19, adding to Victoria’s overnight virus spike of 18. Picture: William West

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The replies were mostly bagging Melbourne, with one man comparing each capital’s rivers, saying: “The Yarra makes the Torrens look pristine.”

Another man tweeted: “The year I move to Melbourne the footy gets cancelled. What even is the point of Victoria with no footy?

“Worst weather in the country and a commie premier! Get me out of here …”

But a few jumped on Adelaide, with one Twitter user posting: “Living in Adelaide is like living in Melbourne during isolation … nothing to do and no one around.”

Ok that is all. You can’t compare Melbourne to Adel, Adel is a beautiful place to visit ❤️

— Brendan Fevola (@BrendanFevola25) June 17, 2020

Dimplomatic thanks Fev,I’m one who’s sick of Melb media ( & in this case a Premier) who bag Adel for sport & think it’s funny . What it promotes is the average person to jump on it , most who have never been here . I love Melbs too but Adel is home & a damn good place to live💪

— #HHGHFTH (@hhghfth) June 17, 2020

Former AFL player Brendan Fevola tweeted: “OK that is all. You can’t compare Melbourne to Adel, Adel is a beautiful place to visit.”

Rebecca Morse replied: “I love many things about Melbs Fev, your Premier just got my back up!”

Fevola’s tweet sparked further Twitter discussion between pro-Adelaide and pro-Melbourne followers.

One person tweeted: “Diplomatic thanks Fev, I’m one who’s sick of Melb media (and in this case a Premier) who bag Adel for sport and think it’s funny.

“What it promotes is the average person to jump on it, most who have never been here. I love Melbs too but Adel is home and a damn good place to live.”