By Mitchell Clarke
Cardinia Shire Council has been in talks with the State Government amid news that the entire Shire had been earmarked as a Covid “hotspot” by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC).
Cardinia mayor Jeff Springfield told the Gazette on Monday morning, 22 June, that the council was “unaware” of any advice or recommendations from the State Government.
“Beside the AHPPC media statement, we hadn’t had any direct contact from them or the State Government,” Cr Jeff Springfield said.
“At this stage all we know is the recommendation from the AHPPC … which named our council among others as identified hotspots.”
Cr Jeff Springfield spoke on ABC AM on Monday morning and said he had requested further information about the specific neighbourhoods and suburbs that were affected.
“We need to get a bit more specific if we’re going to look at really addressing this I think,” he told ABC.
“We eagerly await some information from the State Government to help us on this journey.
“If they wanted us to enforce some sort of travel restrictions than I do find it strange (that they haven’t briefed the council).”
In a statement to the Gazette, the mayor said it was important that everyone followed current government direction to avoid a second wave of Covid-19 in Victoria.
“We have and will continue to support the efforts and follow government advice to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Cr Springfield said.
“We have a great community – a resilient community – and what we need to do now is ‘keep it up’, ‘keep following the guidelines’ and all continue to do what we can to ‘slow the spread’.
“The health and safety of the community is council’s number one priority and we’ll continue to work together as a community to do our bit to follow the guidelines and slow the spread.”
Liberal Gembrook MP Brad Battin said it was “disgusting” that the Premier couldn’t arrange to inform Cardinia Shire Council prior to suggesting it could face increased restrictions.
“I couldn’t believe it when I heard this, it’s a bad image for us,” Mr Battin said.
“We’ve had fifteen cases between 450,000 + people across Casey and Cardinia, we need to put into perspective what this means.
“People need to use common sense, but the government needs to try and ensure people use common sense, rather than using scare tactics.”
As of 22 June, there were five confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Cardinia and nine in Casey, bringing the total case numbers to 23 and 80, respectively.
