Coronavirus: NSW to ‘wait and see’ before opening Vic border

NSW remains unconvinced Victorian health authorities could manage a new outbreak so may keep the border shut for weeks.

Police check NSW-bound travellers’ passes at the border checkpoint in Wodonga Place, Albury, on Monda. Picture: Simon Dallinger

The NSW-Victorian border could stay closed for weeks because the Berejiklian government remains unconvinced Victorian health authorities could manage a new outbreak after restrictions in ­Melbourne are eased this week.

Despite pushing for the border with Queensland to reopen, the Berejiklian government is taking a “wait and see” approach to Victoria, concerned the slow re-opening is an indication that Daniel Andrews does not have full confidence in his state’s contact tracing.

Senior Berejiklian government ministers will discuss how and when the border will reopen on Wednesday.

Three told The Australian they wanted to see how the Victorian Premier handled any new infections after Melbourne’s hard lockdown was lifted at midnight on Tuesday.

It was a view backed by NSW Health, they said.

Mr Andrews had delayed announcing the reopening of shops and restaurants in Melbourne because of concerns about a possible growing outbreak in the city’s northern suburbs.

But Victoria recorded no new coronavirus infections on Monday, while NSW recorded one.

Mr Andrews on Monday said he would speak with the NSW Premier about the border, but warned it was possible regional Victorians would be allowed to travel north before Melbourne residents were.

Police at the Albury Border Check point in Wodonga Place. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Simon Dallinger

“The one thing we could do, and we have, is get our numbers down and that gives others the comfort that they need to be able to open up,” Mr Andrews said.

Separately, Queensland Pre­mier Annastacia Palaszczuk will clarify this week if the NSW-Queensland border will open on Sunday. “Everybody will know by Friday,” she said.

The NSW-Victorian border has been closed since early July, when COVID-19 cases in Melbourne were surging.

In September, NSW widened a “bubble” to 50km on either side of the border, allowing residents with permits to cross between the states for work and school.

But NSW ministers who spoke to The Australian on condition of anonymity pointed to comments from former Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos — who on Sunday criticised Mr Andrews for a “paralysis in decision making” — as evidence of ongoing problems with the contact tracing in Melbourne.

A government spokesman said: “Restrictions continue to be reviewed on a regular basis and the border will not be closed for a day longer than it needs to be.”

Ms Berejiklian last week said Victoria had to “demonstrate they’re not going to have uncontrolled outbreaks while they’re easing restrictions” before the borders reopened.

 

But Albury mayor Kevin Mack said borders had remained closed for too long, and businesses in the regional centre were suffering after being denied access to Victorian customers.

“Ms Berejiklian has criticised the Queensland Premier for keeping her border closed, but she has done the same thing,” Mr Mack said. “Just open the border, that’s what we need.”

Albury Business Connect chairman Barry Young, who runs the Essential Ingredient homewares store in town, said November and December was peak trading period.

“People in regional Victoria can currently travel to Wodonga, but they can’t come another couple of hundred metres either to our retail or hospitality venues,” Mr Young said.

“This is a really big and important market for us, and it is time it was available.

“We should be able to have faith in both the NSW and Victorian healthcare systems to handle any outbreak with numbers as low as they are.”

Business Wodonga chief executive Neil Aird said: “From my members’ point of view the closure is killing them. My message to Ms Berejiklian is open the border please.”