With an official date now confirmed by the NSW Government, locals are being urged to support local businesses to help them get back towards their peak performance.
Victorian Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh said the news the border between NSW and Victoria would re-open from November 23 was a major win for Echuca-Moama and Koondrook-Barham.
Mr Walsh also said it was just as important for the whole region because “it means we can all get back to something as close to normal as possible”.
“People in northern Victoria — in all regional Victoria — can hold their heads high when the time comes to tally up the good and bad of our state’s handling of the COVID pandemic,” Mr Walsh said.
“But right now is a time for celebration as we all look forward to going about our lives pretty much as we did pre-pandemic — but the most important thing we must now focus on is helping all our local businesses get back into gear because they have suffered terribly in recent months.
“We must also be conscious of those amongst us who lost their jobs, those who are in real need of urgent support and make sure none of these people slip through the cracks.
“Lending a hand is what northern Victorians do better than anyone and we now need to do it again.”
NSW Member for Murray Helen Dalton said the changes should have come into effect much sooner.
“While I’m glad we finally have an end to the madness in sight, it’s not good enough,” she said.
“On Tuesday, my office tried to help a woman get to Tocumwal to farewell her dying mum.
“But the NSW Government failed to give her a permit on time. So, her mum died alone, her daughter didn’t get to say goodbye.
“This is the type of insane cruelty the NSW Government is inflicting on our country communities.
“At the same time, we have 40,000 people going to the NRL grand final in Sydney. This is an extraordinary double standard”.
“There’s no reason at all the border can’t be opened today. There are virtually no COVID-19 cases on either side of the border.
“Open the border now.”
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