Victorian MPs slam state’s Covid-19 border rules ahead of parliament’s return

MPs from across the political divide have urged Victoria to overturn its ‘red zone’ ruling for the ACT before federal parliament resumes.

Labor MP Peter Khalil. Picture: AAP

Victorian federal MPs are urging the state government to scrap the “red zone” classification for the ACT that will force them into quarantine for two weeks when they return from Canberra after the next parliamentary sitting fortnight.

Despite Victoria recording more than 1500 cases on Wednesday, the state has deemed the ACT – where cases have been hovering between 20 and 50 a day for weeks – a Covid-19 red zone area. The ruling means only Victorian residents are able to enter the state after spending time in the ACT and must then enter two weeks of isolation.

The ACT’s nine-week lockdown end on Friday, ahead of the October parliamentary fortnight.

Labor MP Peter Khalil said he hoped the Victorian government would make a “common sense assessment” of the ACT and downgrade the red zone designation.

“The bureaucratic inconsistencies and distortions need to be addressed,” he said. “It’s nonsensical. Canberra is clearly a much lower risk than Melbourne.”

Mr Khalil, a father of two, said it was not feasible for him to undertake the two-week quarantine period with his entire family or be separated from them while in isolation.

Nationals MP for Mallee Anne Webster said the decision to require fully vaccinated Vic­torians to isolate for a fortnight on their return was “nonsense” because of the ACT’s high vaccination rate, which has passed 98 per cent first-dose coverage.

“I’ve had to make the decision because of the two weeks’ quarantine that I will not be doing the second lot of sitting weeks because I cannot afford eight to nine weeks out of the electorate,” she said.

Dr Webster said MPs wanted to “get on with what we were elected to do … People rightly expect me to be doing my job.”

Liberal MP Katie Allen – a former paediatrician – said Victoria’s public health order “doesn’t make a lot of sense … The risk is in the other direction.”

Ms Allen will travel to Canberra for the full sitting fortnight and said she would follow the imposed health order.

“But I would hope they would reconsider given the 95 per cent plus vaccination rate and the fact we are double vaccinated. I would hope they use the evidence base,” she said.

Under a new ACT health order unveiled last week, fully vaccinated federal politicians and staff from Covid-struck NSW and Victoria will be able to skip the two-week quarantine period when they enter the nation’s capital.

Unvaccinated MPs from NSW and Victoria are still required to undertake two weeks of quarantine when they enter the ACT. Both fully vaccinated and unvaccinated MPs from areas with active Covid-19 will have some restrictions imposed on them while they are in Canberra depending on how freely they have moved around their community in the past 14 days before their arrival.

Victorian federal politicians are required to be vaccinated after the state government deemed them essential workers, but other jurisdictions have not imposed a similar stance.