‘Can you see my zen fading?’ Shellharbour queries lockdown inclusion

“No wonder people down here are confused,” said Shellharbour mayor Marianne Saliba when she heard on Friday that tougher lockdown rules continued to apply to the local government area situated 90 minutes south of Sydney.

Shellharbour hasn’t had any reported COVID-19 cases or traces of the virus in its sewage. For Cr Saliba, the NSW government’s original decision to include Shellharbour in the lockdown, and not Kiama, the LGA directly to its south - which also has had no cases - makes no sense.

In a letter to Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Health Minister Brad Hazzard and others this week, Cr Saliba asked for an explanation regarding the “absolute shemozzle” that surrounded Shellharbour’s inclusion in the Greater Sydney lockdown.

Marianne Saliba, the mayor of Shellharbour, which is part of the Greater Sydney lockdown.Credit: James Brickwood

With no cases reported in Shellharbour again this week, residents vented their anger on social media. One asked why the government didn’t “stop people from Sydney from coming down the M1 and allow residents to carry on as usual”.

Late on Friday, NSW Health announced it was urgently contact-tracing workers who had been at a construction site in Wollongong which had been visited by someone who was COVID-19 positive.

A spokesperson for NSW Health said the decision to continue to include Shellharbour recognised that even in lockdown, essential workers travelled across Greater Sydney and areas adjacent to it, including the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour, for work, education and social reasons.

“We are minimising movement across all of these areas to prevent a seeding event. We also want to ensure that if someone who is now in the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong or Shellharbour, and who has been unknowingly infected during time recently spent in Sydney, does not spread COVID-19 into their community,” the spokesperson said.

“Can you see my zen fading?” Robert Cooley, owner of FiveStar Martial Arts and Fitness in Albion Park Rail.Credit: James Brickwood

“When a COVID-19 case is detected anywhere in Greater Sydney, it often leads to exposure venues and contacts throughout the wider area.”

When it comes to Kiama and Shellharbour, it is a tale of two shires separated by the Minnamurra River and connected by family and history. Dairy farms may straddle the two shires. Children shuffle back and forth from Kiama to Shellharbour between divorced parents, grandmothers and schools.

About 75 per cent of Kiama’s residents visit the Stockland shopping centre in Shellharbour each week. And traffic goes south, too. Visitors from the Shellharbour postcode bring the most business to Kiama out of all, said Kiama’s mayor, Mark Honey.

After hearing on Friday that the Premier had toughened lockdown rules, taekwondo grandmaster Robert Cooley asked: “Can you see my zen fading?”

Mr Cooley, the owner of FiveStar Martial Arts and Fitness at Albion Park Rail in Shellharbour, said he was frustrated by the inclusion of the areain the lockdown without any supporting data.

Mr Cooley, a national and state champion, said it was easier to stay calm in competitions where rules are explained more clearly. Yet local residents like him were struggling to understand why their businesses were affected.

“So why we are penalised if there are no cases here?” he said. “Why are we being dealt this blow?”

Mr Cooley said the first lockdown cost him about 75 per cent of his business. Moving classes to Zoom was difficult. Children were easily distracted in their home environments, and many didn’t return. After building up again to previous levels, using advertising to reach new customers, business had once more come to a halt, he said.

Cr Saliba is also frustrated by the way Shellharbour appeared to be added to the lockdown at the last minute on June 26, two hours after the rest of Sydney.

“[There’s no reason] other than a visitor who tested positive, who went to one of our stores, Baby Bunting. If it is because we have visitors who have tested positive, Shoalhaven should be closed down too - because they’ve had visitors who have tested positive.”

Cr Saliba argued that if the government could split the Northern Beaches in two during a previous lockdown, it could also split off Shellharbour from the rest of greater Sydney. Both places have natural borders that provide for this, she noted.

“I’m not advocating for Kiama or Shoalhaven to be included in the lockdown,” she said. “I am advocating for Shellharbour to be taken out."

Stay across the most crucial developments related to the pandemic with the Coronavirus Update. Sign up for the weekly newsletter.