Cross border communities are fed up with government red tape.
Now is the time for Victoria to tweak its border permit system to allow industry freer access from South Australia.
Commercial freight operators entering Victoria need to apply for a permit every 14-days which creates an unnecessary administrative burden.
By contrast, the South Australian Government issues permits which are valid for three months and are often extended automatically.
The Victorian Government also has a border zone in place with New South Wales, which allows for permit-free travel between certain local government areas, but such an arrangement doesn’t exist with South Australia.
This again creates an unnecessary administrative burden – particularly for people who need to cross the border to go about their daily business, like grocery shopping and taking the kids to school.
It also impacts the agriculture and forestry sectors which operate across the border.
A year into the pandemic, the Andrews Labor Government should have a system in place that reduces the administrative burden for the freight industry, and that allows for permit-free travel for people working in vital cross-border industries and living in cross-border communities.
Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Ports and Freight, Roma Britnell:
“The Andrews Labor Government’s permit system is creating an unnecessary level of red tape which it can easily remove with a couple of changes.
“It makes no sense to have a border zone with permit-free travel with New South Wales, but not with South Australia. That must be rectified immediately.
“The Andrews Labor Government must also start issuing permits with longer expiry dates for commercial freight operators to help keep freight moving and to reduce the administrative burden.”
