By Mitchell Clarke
The ‘ring of steel’ separating the Cardinia Shire from Baw Baw Shire could remain in place, even after the next round of eased coronavirus restrictions.
By 19 October, the State Government hopes to reach the third step of the Covid-19 roadmap, which would allow the boundary to be scrapped and intrastate travel to return.
But during a press conference on Thursday 1 October, Premier Daniel Andrews said he was unsure, when asked by a reporter if travel to the regions would go ahead as planned.
He said the decision would come down to the detailed advice he received as well as the amount of virus in metropolitan Melbourne.
“Whether it’s safe to have free movement, without rules, into regional Victoria, that matter has not been settled but we are turning our mind to that,” Mr Andrews said.
“There may be some travel that we don’t think is safe.
“I know and understand there will be many people, for the best of reasons, who want to travel to regional areas … but we just have to be really careful to not put at risk what regional Victorians have been able to achieve, and that is, very, very low virus status.”
The Premier said opening up the borders on 19 October “might not be a smart thing to do at that point”, but added his announcement didn’t necessarily mean the rules would stay in place for all of November.
“Nobody will be any doubt, by the time we get to the 19th, about what the weeks after that look like for the purposes of travel,” he said.
But the admission has caused confusion, particularly for those living in Cardinia Shire’s regional townships that rely on travel into Baw Baw.
Liberal Narracan MP Gary Blackwood said local communities on the border were already dealing with complex travel and living issues.
He said a divided Step 3 roadmap would only create more confusion.
“Communities on this border are interconnected,” he said.
“Families living in Cardinia send their kids to school in Baw Baw. Kids in Baw Baw play sport at Cardinia sporting clubs. People cross the border to work in nearby towns and for essential goods or services.”
Mr Blackwood, who represents residents living in both metropolitan and regional communities, said the regions should be able to fully reopen.
“Victorians were told we needed two roadmaps, one for the greater metropolitan region and one for regional,” he said.
“Those roadmaps were then due to join up under Step 3 so the whole state could move together under one set of restrictions.
“If it is the case the border will remain even with both zones on step 3, regional Victoria should move to the final step today … there is no reason to delay that step occurring if travel between each region is going to remain.”
