Coronavirus: Queues, chaos as NSW-Victoria border is locked
Traffic banked up for kilometres and the website meant to handle border permits crashed after going live | WATCH
Motorists crossing the border from Victoria into NSW at Albury-Wodonga faced traffic queues of up to two hours on Wednesday as NSW police stopped every vehicle to check for a permit.
On the first morning of the border closure a line of traffic several kilometres long snaked along the Lincoln Causeway in Wodonga, even extending back to the turn-off from the Hume Highway.
Despite the permit system operated by Services NSW only coming online at 7pm Tuesday night, all motorists were being asked to prove they had a legitimate right to make the border crossing.
Adding to the chaos, the online application for border crossing permits crashed less than an hour after its launch.
This is the queue to get across the border from Wodonga into Albury - as NSW police stop each car and check for permits and ID pic.twitter.com/9sQCsB2UMC
— Trudy McIntosh (@TrudyMcIntosh) July 7, 2020
BORDER SHUTS: a long queue has already formed with people trying to get into NSW via Albury. Many are frustrated locals wanting to get to work. All cars are being diverted through here off the Hume. Expect huge delays #7newsmelb @sunriseon7 #alburywodonga pic.twitter.com/d6tdDrFeTH
— Teegan Dolling (@tdolling) July 7, 2020
Victoria has been cut off by road from NSW for the first time since the Spanish flu pandemic more than 100 years ago.
From just before midnight on Tuesday, 650 NSW police were deployed along border crossings between the states to enforce new restrictions banning Victorians from travelling into NSW without a permit.
People are able to obtain permits if they are local residents, or live within 50km of the border. Others in Victoria must have a specific reason to enter into NSW, such as providing a critical service, needing essential medical treatment or if they are returning home into NSW.
Locals in the Albury Wodonga border community are angry about the lack of consultation before governments put a hard border through their twin city.
Dog groomer Jessica Roberts said she sat in traffic for two hours this morning as she navigated the normally 10 minute drive from her home in West Wodonga to her business premises in Albury.
“I’ve got no choice but to make the trip, and it likely mean two hours for me in the mornings,” Ms Roberts said.
“They should have worked this out before now. Albury Wodonga is a joint community, and a lot of people who live in Wodonga work in Albury and vice versa,” she said.
“There are plenty of more sophisticated ways they could be thinking about doing this, with number plate scanning technology and such like.
“It just needs to be more streamlined,” Ms Roberts said.
She said she had managed to acquire the permit required to cross the border after a 90 minute wait on Tuesday evening as the Services NSW computer system crashed.
“I feel sorry for the police at the checkpoint. They are just doing their job and there will be plenty of angry people coming across.”
Those returning to their homes in NSW from Victoria must self-isolate for 14 days, though there are separate arrangements for people in border regions.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian urged people at the border crossings to be patient in coming days as the new system bedded down.
But local councils are angry about the lack of consultation about the lockdown.
In Albury-Wodonga they want residents to be able travel freely between the towns without having to queue each time they need to cross the border.
At present this option is not available.
As police moved to impose a hard-border blockade, splitting twin towns like Albury-Wodonga, Yarrawonga-Mulwala and Echuca-Moama in two, residents and businesses were growing increasingly anxious about how the restrictions would work.
Only 4.5 hours before the border closes the permit site FINALLY live.. except it can't handle the volume and is crashing before able to submit! Absolute joke #alburywodonga #borderclosure #COVID19Aus
— Kate (@Kate_4329) July 7, 2020
Five major road crossings have the most dedicated police resources, which in coming days will be supported by around 350 defence personnel.
These are the Hume Highway in Albury-Wodonga, the Sturt Highway in Mildura, the Cobb Highway passing through Echuca-Moama, the Newell Highway in Tocumwal and the Princes Highway running down the east coast.
Another 29 crossings will have a police presence, while 21 minor road crossings will be monitored by police from the air.
With the permit system only coming online late on Tuesday evening, long delays are expected in the first few days of the new regime.
Border residents remain anxious about the impact of the lockdown on their businesses and access to services.
But NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said on Tuesday that police would be mindful of their predicament in the first few days while the permit system is bedded down.
“(Police know) full well people cross the borders every day for health, employment, education and many other reasons,” Mr Fuller said.
“They will more than likely just need to apply for a single exemption that will see them through this crisis,” he said.
Other Victorians will have to prove they have an urgent reason for crossing into NSW. The permit application includes reasons such as care access for children, receiving essential medical treatment, providing essential services and university students returning to study interstate.
“If it’s just coming across to do the shopping or some menial task, that won’t be accepted,” Mr Fuller said. “The starting point for Victorians (is) we don’t want you to travel to NSW unless it’s essential and you’ll really have to prove that.”
Those who attempt to flout the rules face a $1000 on-the-spot fine, and more serious fines of up to $11,000 or even jail time can be imposed if they provide false information.
NSW Police Minister David Elliott warned the border could be shut for weeks.
The long traffic delays were anticipated in high traffic areas around Albury-Wodonga. Of more concern is the longer term loss of regular local patronage that is the lifeblood of many businesses in the region.
Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club chief executive Peter Savy said more than 80 per cent of members and staff were resident in Yarrawonga, the other side of the hard border from the club located in Mulwala in NSW.
“We’d just started to rebuild after opening again in early June, and now we’ve already had a number of cancellations from Victorians who were planning to stay here,” Mr Savy said. “If our local members can’t get here as well, it’s hard to say what will happen. We’ve got 120 employees.
At the nearby Club Mulwala resort, chief executive officer Alan Rowe said he felt the border closure was rushed, and more consultation could have led to a better economic outcome without compromising the health outcome.
“I think they could have had a postcode hub, with people living in the Mulwala and Yarrawonga postcodes free to travel inside the area,” Mr Rowe said. “We haven’t had a case up here since March, and this way we could keep maybe half to two-thirds of our business.
“We could survive with a postcode hub. If we have to rely solely on business on the NSW side of the border, it won’t be worth us staying open, and that puts more than 100 jobs in jeopardy, I still don’t understand why people in regional Victoria are being punished.”
The mayors of Albury and Wodonga said they were also lobbying state governments for a hub approach to the border lockdown.
“A localised approach allowing localised economies to continue to do business, with residents moving freely but safely within the local zone, could be critical to how we go forward as a region,” Wodonga mayor Anna Speedie said.
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