Council to continue lobbying for earlier COVID-19 restriction relief

Published on 06 September 2020

Mildura Mayor Simon Clemence said Council would continue to lobby the Victorian Government to ease COVID-19 restrictions more quickly despite Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' roadmap out of restrictions announced today.

Cr Clemence said while today's announcement does provide a pathway forward, and it was pleasing to see that the regions were being treated differently to the metropolitan area, the Sunraysia community needed more immediate relief in the face of ongoing restrictions.

"There are many in our community, whether they be residents or business owners, who are doing it extremely tough at the moment due to the current level of restrictions, despite very few cases of coronavirus in our region since this whole pandemic started," Cr Clemence said.   

“While there will be some easing of restrictions here in a week, based on what we know from today’s announcement these measures will provide minimal, if any relief to key sectors of our business community who need help the most.

“These sectors, including our hospitality, tourism and accommodation sectors, will be forced to wait longer to resume their operations based on the current roadmap.

"Due to our comparatively remote location, particularly our distance from many of the regional and metropolitan areas that have experienced higher numbers of COVID-19 cases, our region should have a strong argument for an earlier easing of restrictions.

"We've been strong in our calls for easing of the current border restrictions at both ends of our municipality, most recently in a letter to the NSW Premier in relation to river access, and we will continue to focus on measures that make the most difference to our residents' everyday lives. 

“Easing restrictions here, recognising that the data shows we are very low risk, helps to support our calls for border communities to be able to live life as usual.

"We'll continue this work, including lobbying the Victorian Government to ease restrictions in areas such as Sunraysia sooner rather than later."

ENDS