Moama business left out in cold again, calls grow for Victorian Government to turn border bubble back to green

This looks set to continue following Wednesday's announcement by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian that Sydney's lockdown would be extended for another week.

Yes, 365 cases have been confirmed in Sydney since the outbreak began on June 16, but with Moama located 775km from Sydney — compared to 239km from Melbourne — business owners have been left dumbfounded as to why they have been wrapped up in this latest saga.

Moama Central Motel owner Deb Egan said she was at her wits’ end knowing who to speak to — or who would even listen — about the plight of Moama businesses as Victorians continue to cancel bookings in droves, in fear of the border being closed or having to test and isolate on return from the NSW half of the bubble.

“We've got nothing, no-one is here,” Ms Egan said.

“I don't know how much longer we can keep going, and not just me, but the other businesses here.

“It's killing us. We went through this in January, we had no support from the government and we're going through the same thing again.

“It's the middle of winter, and we don't know how long this is going to go on.

“We don't know when the Victorian Health Minister will make us green again. Is he going to wait until NSW has no cases? It could be months.

“I don't know what to do and I don't know how we go on.”

Echcua-Moama Tourism chief executive Kathryn Mackenzie said what made the current situation so frustrating was that Echuca accommodation was full to the brim, with some travellers left with nowhere to stay.

“It's come to a head, with the NSW Government extending the lockdown for another week,” she said.

“What we have here in Echuca-Moama is Echuca booming; it's got high occupancies from day trippers to overnight visitors, but on the other side of the river, we've got empty rooms.

“On the weekend, my team were searching to find sufficient accommodation to accommodate all the requests.

“Everyone is losing, all the clubs, patronage is way down, Morrisons Winery in Moama has lost well over 100 bookings in the last few days.

“And now they're (Moama) all starting to lose their Winter Blues accommodation bookings, because the public is really concerned the border may still be down.

“It's been about 45 weeks Moama has been impacted out of 15 months, and the industry is calling out for the government to relook at this.

“And Moama is a long way from Sydney, we're not a high-risk zone, it's not where people drive from Sydney to.

“We really just want to be turned back to green.”

Victorian Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh said Moama businesses getting locked out from Victoria was like "déjà vu again".

“We have already had the fight with the Turn The Bubble Green campaign, but even then the economic damage was extensive,” he said.

“Now we’re right back where we started: no COVID anywhere along the Murray — and there hasn’t been any, ever, in nearly every one of these communities, but for the sake of ‘caution’ the Andrews Labor Government has condemned half the community to financial ruin. It is unnecessary, unwarranted and un-Australian.”

Perricoota Vines Retreat owner Mindi Abel, who purchased the property in September 2020 with her husband, Peter, has found herself right in the thick of establishing her dream business during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But while she says they have often experienced times of boom bookings, the roller-coaster ride of restrictions — including the present ones — threatens to hurt their chances of survival.

“We've just gone from being 80 per cent booked, down to about 20 per cent and out of that 20, I think 50 per cent are waiting to see what happens with restrictions if they should cancel,” Ms Abel said.

“No-one wants to book because everyone is scared there will be another snap closure, the confidence is non-existent.

“And the Queen's Birthday was exactly the same, 100 per cent full, then we ended up with two per cent.”

Ms Abel said she could only describe the experience as "gutting".

“We've done it hard — and everyone has done it hard — but every time there are new restrictions imposed, and it doesn't matter whether it's NSW or Victoria, it always seems to affect us,” she said.

“First it was challenging, then it got frustrating and now we're just scratching our heads going okay, what do we do?

“Financially and emotionally, it's just crippling.

“We feel like we're in the middle of a game of political ping-pong.”

Border Inn licensee Adrian Daly has experienced first hand how restrictions are causing a ripple effect on every business in town.

“If it doesn't change, it affects thousands of people this side of the river,” he said.

“The retail here, accommodation, they are just bleeding.

“We're a hotel, but we also have some accommodation. And it affects cleaners, hospitality workers, the people we buy our food from where we have to say, ‘sorry we're not doing as many meals'.

“It's everything, it's a snowball effect.”

Mr Daly agreed with Ms Abel's assessment of the situation, saying it was heartbreaking to see decisions dictated by people who had no first-hand experience of the hurt the zones were causing.

“All this grandstanding and point scoring, whether it be politicians or people who have no fat in the game, that's what frustrates me,” he said.

“Both sides of the river at certain stages often get caught in the crossfire, because we're dealing with three governments — federal and Victoria and NSW.

“Depending on how things are going in Sydney, 800km away, and how it affects us here, it does get a little bit mind-blowing.”

Mr Daly said local customers had been incredibly supportive of Moama businesses over the past 18 months, and were chipping in where they could.

“Country towns are very loyal and the locals have been outstanding, and it's frustrating for them too,” he said.

But with the near future still uncertain for so many, Ms Mackenzie further encouraged locals to head across the bridge and help patronise local businesses.

“Even have a short holiday for what's left of the school holidays on the waterfront or resort, because it is dire,” Ms Mackenzie said.

“These people can't continue to sustain these lockdowns.”

Ms Egan, Ms Abel, Mr Daly and Ms Mackenzie all agreed the first and most important step required from decision makers was to make sure the bubble wasn't just turned green again, but stayed green.

“That is the first thing, otherwise we have no surety of a future,” Ms Abel said.

“Once that happens and we get a guarantee they will never include us with the rest of NSW if anything happens, then okay, we can take a deep breath and ask how do we get through this.”

Mr Walsh urged every regional Victorian to send a demand to Premier Daniel Andrews to once again turn the bubble green.

“We have to work together to hammer home this message — we don’t have any COVID here and bringing Melbourne people to any of the twin towns will make the difference between saving businesses and jobs or sending them to the wall for no reason,” he said.

“Even if you can do nothing else, register your protest now to and get your friends, families, colleagues and employees to do the same.”www.facebook.com/DanielAndrewsMP

In response to the decision to classify Moama as an orange zone, a Victorian Government spokesperson said the travel permit system was designed to protect Victorians from transmission of COVID-19 in other states.

“With growing cases in NSW of the highly infectious delta variant we must remain vigilant and do everything we can to keep Victorians safe,” the spokesperson said.

“Residents from Echuca and other cross-border community members continue to be able to cross the border to trade and support businesses in Moama.

“But with only a very small percentage of the Australian population vaccinated we need the Commonwealth to play its part and deliver the vaccines we need to get our country out of this pandemic.”