Border closure comedy of errors

If the border closure option had been considered for months, why has it been so badly handled, The Weekly Times asks.

FIRST, let’s be crystal clear: there is no disputing the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, nor the size of the challenge facing Victoria right now in handling that health risk.

The enormity of the decision to shut the border between Victoria and NSW cannot be underestimated. 

It is only the second time in more than 100 years the nation’s two largest economies have been closed off from each other, a decision that is hardly to have been made lightly by the governments involved.

Which is what makes the incredibly bungled handling of its rollout all the more confusing and, frankly, insulting to cross-border communities.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, in announcing the closure, said it was an option that had been considered for months.

If that is true, why was the permit system not ready to go as soon as the closure was announced?

Why was clear information of who could be eligible for permits not immediately available?

Why are hundreds of thousands of people in cross-border communities left wondering how they will get to work or school or doctors’ appointments?

It appeared not one of these questions had been considered before Monday.

Meanwhile, Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has been unable to offer even the most basic information on how the closure will operate.

Regional Victoria has shown by its consistently low case numbers that it is willing to do whatever is required of it to get through this crisis.

But the way the border shutdown has been handled has left country residents once again uncertain of what’s ahead and with little faith the governments have their backs.

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