With just days until the South Australian Government’s hard border closure comes into force, Premier Daniel Andrews still hasn’t committed to supporting Victorians who will be badly impacted.
The hard border will tear families apart, keeping children in shared custody arrangements from their parents. People are facing unemployment and aren’t able to get medical care or go to school. All because they live on the wrong side of an arbitrary line on a map. Trucks carrying freight are being turned back at the border, putting supply chains at risk. And farmers are facing the prospect of not being able to travel to properties to care for livestock.
If the Andrews Labor Government hadn’t caused Victoria’s second wave through hotel quarantine, we wouldn’t be in this mess. The Liberal Nationals are calling on Premier Andrews to announce, as a matter of urgency, how he’ll be helping them.
Daniel Andrews needs to support Victorians impacted by this decision. While I am trying to work with our South Australian counterparts to accommodate certain circumstances during this hard border, Premier Daniel Andrews is doing nothing. He must take into account the huge impacts this decision is having on people and the distress is it causing. The State Government worked to find a solution with New South Wales, it must do the same for South Australia.
Comments attributable to State Member for South-West Coast, Roma Britnell:
“All Daniel Andrews has done is hint to journalists that there may be supports coming. That’s simply not good enough.
“I wrote to both the Victorian and South Australian Premiers when this was announced last week. Premier Marshall called me the following day but I am still to hear anything from Premier Andrews.
“It’s the Victorian second wave which has prompted South Australia to make this decision but the Victorian Government is ignoring the people this will impact the most.
“I’ve been contacted by people who are going to be out of a job because they won’t be able to cross the border to get to work. I’ve heard from people who are being treated by medical specialists in Mount Gambier for ongoing conditions, who won’t qualify under the urgent care category.”
