Backpackers ignore Melbourne lockdown, head to regions for work

Rural leaders have serious concerns about backpackers spilling out of locked down Melbourne to look for work in regions. They say it shouldn’t be allowed.

On the move: Rural communities are concerned backpackers are leaving locked down Melbourne to search for farm work.

CITRUS Australia’s chief has questioned why backpackers are still being allowed to leave Melbourne and roll up for work in country Victoria.

“My understanding is you can’t leave Melbourne without having reason, and going to look for work isn’t one of them,” Citrus Australia chief executive Nathan Hancock said.

It comes as the NSW Government today announced permits would be allowed for workers who can prove they haven’t travelled out of the district of border towns like Mildura.

Mildura-based MADEC harvest trail manager Gavin Krake told The Weekly Times earlier this week that backpackers were still spilling out of Melbourne into Mildura looking for work, despite COVID-19 travel restrictions.

“We’re still getting people rocking up from Melbourne and we say get a (COVID-19) test and self-isolate,” Mildura-based MADEC harvest trail manager Gavin Krake said.

“These people are even hopping on V/Line buses to get here. I’m not sure what vetting is going on in Melbourne, but it’s concerning.”

Mr Krake said he had a group arrive from Melbourne on Wednesday.

“We contacted the police to ask what was happening, given it places rural communities at risk,” he said.

The Weekly Times is trying to get an answer out of the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, but it is struggling to respond to queries.

Mr Hancock said he didn’t understand how backpackers were getting out of Melbourne to prospect for work, following the July 20 lockdown.

“If they do they should be self isolating in a hostel,” he said. “The hostels are telling us they have (isolation) rooms, but they shouldn’t be (coming up) here now.”

Stay at Home directives were issued under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 on July 20, to the residents of Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, which includes backpackers.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ directions state: “If you are currently in a backpacker hostel, you should regard it as your home for the purposes of the Stay at Home direction”.

“You should avoid spending time in communal areas of the hostel. You may leave the hostel to board a flight out of Australia”.

The same rules apply to backpackers living in outer Melbourne or Mitchell Shire caravan parks.

But while backpackers are turning up in town, without being COVID-19 tested, Mildura freight operators are being forced to test truck drivers wishing to cross the border every seven days, under rules brought in by the NSW Government.