Australia closes state border for the first time in 100 years

File picture: Loren Elliott/Reuters

File picture: Loren Elliott/Reuters

Published Jul 7, 2020

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Sydney/Melbourne - Hundreds of police

officers and army troops are being deployed to enforce the

closure of the busy border between Australia's two most populous

states as officials grapple to contain a fresh coronavirus

outbreak.

The state line between New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria,

which is highly porous and stretches hundreds of kilometres, is

scheduled to close at 11.59pm on Tuesday for the first time

in 100 years.

Underscoring the need for decisive action, Victoria state

reported a record number of new Covid-19 infections on Thursday,

taking the national tally to a three-month high.

"There will be a significant military and police operation

going on to monitor all cross-border activity," NSW Police

Minister David Elliott warned. "There's serious fines and

indeed, a jail sentence, to anyone that wants to push the

envelope."

People caught crossing the border without permission via any

of the 55 roads that are heavily used by commuters, school

children and road freight, or several river and wilderness

crossings, will face penalties including a fine of A$11,000

($7,700) and six months imprisonment.

Daily travel permits will be granted to people who live in

border towns and cities but with the closure just hours away,

the application system was still being developed.

Kevin Mack, the mayor of Albury, a border town on the NSW

side, said with an estimated 50,000 car movements across the

state line every day "it will be a nightmare for everyone."

The border closure was announced on Monday in response to a

surge in COVID-19 cases in Melbourne, the Victorian capital,

which prompted authorities this week to reinstate strict

social-distancing orders in more than 30 suburbs and put nine

public housing towers into complete lockdown.

Victoria was responsible for 191 of the 199 new cases

reported nationally on Tuesday, the biggest one-day rise since

early April, excluding last week's addition of historical data

from cruise ships.

Australia has now recorded almost 8,800 cases and 106

deaths, far below many other countries, but the Melbourne

outbreak has worried officials. Some Australian media reported

on Tuesday that Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews was considering

reimposing some broader lockdown measures across the state.

The closure of the border is a blow to Australia's hopes of

cushioning the fall as the country heads into its first

recession in nearly three decades, thanks to social distancing

restrictions that were imposed in March and have been largely

lifted.

BORDER CHAOS

For businesses on the border, which last closed during the

Spanish flu pandemic in 1919, it also poses an immediate

logistics headache.

"About a quarter of my staff like me live in NSW, and cross

that border every day to come to work," said Paul Armstrong, who

runs a petrol station in Wodonga, a border town on the Victorian

side. "I don't know if they are going to be able to get in."

The closure also comes during school holidays in both

states, a peak travel time for many families.

Ray Bell, owner of the Twofold Bay Motor Inn in Eden, a

coastal town on the NSW side of the border, said he received 37

cancellations overnight, including five guests who were forced

to leave early to make it back home.

Outside of the border towns, Victoria residents will be able

to apply for a permit, but will need to prove a special need for

their travel. Freight transporters will be free to cross the

border without a permit, but will be subjected to random stops.

Meanwhile, Football Federation Australia (FFA) will be

forced to request exemptions to allow Melbourne's three A-League

clubs into New South Wales after their plans to exit Victoria by

plane on Monday night were scuppered by fog that closed the

airport.

Reuters

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