Coronavirus Australia: Anger grows at hard lockdowns at towers, and border closures
Frustrations bubble over with a locked down tower resident busting out, and angry backlash to the NSW-Victoria border closure.
As Victoria’s virus crisis widens, the angry backlash has hit and frustrations are bubbling over.
One resident of a locked-down Melbourne housing commission towers made a break for it; protesters have been moved on by police, and border towns have erupted in an angry war of words and blame game over border closures.
Meanwhile, the ADF has been called in to help.
As the reality of total hard lockdowns bit hard in Melbourne on Monday. police were allegedly assaulted by one tower resident.
A public housing tower resident has allegedly bitten a police officer after attempting to escape hard lockdown, Victoria’s top cop said.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton told reporters on Monday that a 32-year-old male of one of the towers in Flemington had been taken into police custody to be processed on charges of assaulting and resisting police as well as attempting to breach the COVID-19 order.
Meanwhile as a handful of protesters assembled outside the towers, Victorian Housing Minister Richard Wynne, who said he lives “next door” to the North Melbourne housing commission flats, said he wanted to “reassure” residents the government was doing all it could for them.
“I know there’s been some commentary about perhaps people who have not necessarily received the level of support that they would have liked, but I just want to assure all of our residents that we are doing absolutely everything that we can to both reach out and support people in this really difficult time,” Mr Wynne said.
“This is tough, but I can assure all of the residents in those nine tower blocks that we are with them, we’ll stick with them and we will support them right through this incredibly difficult time.”
It came as man living inside one of the locked-down commission towers told NCA NewsWire he will spend his 32nd birthday in conditions he has described as “worse than prison”.
Speaking exclusively to NCA NewsWire, Ugur Okanlar said he was stranded inside his small apartment with “barely any food” and just enough medication for his sick mother to last another two days.
“For people with dogs in there flats there are officials who come up and walk them outside. Even the animals have more freedom,” he said.
“And to think that this could go on for another 14 days – it’s causing mayhem here.”
Mr Okanlar said he was confronted with pepper spray-wielding police officers on Sunday when he tried to go downstairs to find out more information.
“We don’t need guns and pepper spray waved in our faces here, we don’t need these people working against us, we need healthcare workers working with us.”
It came as the Victorian government distributed a five-page document to tenants citing the lockdown operation as “detention”.
“These directions require everyone who ordinarily resides in a detention location to limit their interactions with others by restricting the circumstances in which they may leave the premises where they ordinarily reside,” the note reads.
Border town backlash
The Victoria-NSW border will be closed at midnight on Tuesday, after 127 new virus cases and two deaths in Victoria on Monday.
The move prompted swift backlash from the leaders of border towns Albury and Wodonga.
Albury deputy mayor Amanda Cohn said the snap decision had “agitated” residents, many of whom are healthcare workers who need to travel between the states.
“Having to wait up to 72 hours for a permit to cross the border is unacceptable for a lot of people, particularly in healthcare,” Ms Cohn told the ABC.
“We’ve only got an intensive care unit and cancer treatment centre in Albury and we’ve only got a maternity centre in Wodonga,” she said.
“For (NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian) to say there will be difficulty and we should expect queues and disruptions for 72 hours when they’ve had months to prepare for this happening is unacceptable.”
State governments should have considered enforcing a border that was either south of Wodonga or north of Albury, Ms Cohn said.
“We are in a really unique situation here where we got a community of 100,000 people where the state border is in the middle of our community — it doesn’t divide us,” Ms Cohn told the ABC.
“I think what’s really frustrated people here in Albury-Wodonga is they had months to prepare for this happening,” she said.
She said the flow of information “has been terrible”.
“As a local I’ve been bombarded by messages from people who don’t understand how to apply for a permit and what it’s going to mean for them.
“The flow of information has been terrible.”
Wodonga Mayor Anna Speedie blamed the “actions” of people in Melbourne for the border closure.
She was given no pre-warning of the closure, and spent Monday morning “fielding calls” from distressed community members who had heard the news an hour before it was officially announced.
“We have had our communities behaving appropriately and taking the correct steps and we are being penalised by the actions of Melbourne,” Cr Speedie told ABC TV.
“My region, for example, hasn’t had a new case in three months.”
Cr Speedie said the economic viability of regional communities is being sacrificed because authorities had resisted calls to ring-fence Melbourne to slow a resurgence of coronavirus.
Defence Force boosts effort
Almost 1000 members of the Australian Defence Force-led Operation COVID-19 Assist are currently deployed across all states and territories, supporting border closures, contact tracing and enforcing quarantine measures.
The Department of Defence on Monday revealed there were 372 Joint Task Force personnel supporting Queensland authorities, compared with 229 staff in Victoria.
In Victoria, 186 ADF personnel are providing medical testing assistance to state authorities, with nine staff involved in planning support.
The deployment to Victoria is expected to be expanded in the coming days.
The Queensland government, where COVID-19 cases have been contained and borders will reopen on Friday, is receiving support from 130 ADF personnel to enforce border controls, 57 supporting self-isolation compliance checks, 51 helping Queensland Police protect indigenous communities and 45 supporting state police with international arrivals.
In NSW, 136 ADF staff — from a total contribution of 167 Joint Task Force personnel — are supporting state police quarantine and self-isolation directions at Sydney Airport, local hotels and residences.
The Joint Task Force has 102 personnel supporting Northern Territory officials, 24 in Western Australia, 12 in South Australia, six in Tasmania and four in the ACT.
The Department of Defence said they were supporting the Department of Health with logistics and specialist staff, supplying clinical and epidemiological support to the National Incident Room and assisting in the development of the National Communicable Disease Incidence of National Significance Plan.
There are 33 ADF and Defence department staff embedded across Australian government agencies, including the Department of Home Affairs and Services Australia.
Defence said 55 of its 62 confirmed COVID-19 cases had recovered from the virus. A total of 26 ADF coronavirus cases were detected in overseas staff.
More Coverage
‘Holy grail’ fish discovery comes with one big catch
The discovery of a rare, untapped, abundant and delicious food source off Australia’s southern coast is quickly shaping as an unsavoury battle.
Marles pays US an AUKUS advance
Australia has made its first AUKUS down payment to the US as the Albanese government looks to lock-in Trump administration support for the submarine program.