State government faces mounting pressure to ease restrictions further in regional Victoria with no active Geelong cases and just three outside of Melbourne.
Western Victoria MP Bev McArthur demanded the government allow regional Victoria to move to the last step of its reopening roadmap, independent of Melbourne, when it reached zero cases.
The last step allows up to 50 people in outdoor gatherings and inside hospitality venues, 20 visitors at homes and the reopening of gyms and libraries.
But the step requires all of Victoria to have zero new cases for 14 days, which Mrs McArthur labelled “outrageous”.
“The government needs to get out of our lives, off our backs and stop sending more businesses broke, more jobs lost, more lives shattered and more communities alienated.”
Geelong Chamber of Commerce president Mark Edmonds supported the call provided “we hit the numbers”.
Mr Edmonds said the safety of the move also would depend on Melbourne’s COVID-19 figures and possible restrictions on Melburnians visiting the regions.
While businesses were keen to reopen, a regional spike causing them to close again would “absolutely cripple” them, he warned.
Tourism Greater Geelong and the Bellarine acting executive director Tracy Carter stopped short of supporting Mrs McArthur’s call.
But she said she would “absolutely” support the move if health officials deemed it safe and urged them to consider it.
Lara MP John Eren questioned Mrs McArthur’s expertise in health matters and said her plan risked putting Victoria “in jeopardy of a third wave”.
“I’m not sure what degree she has. She is quickly becoming the Karen of COVID.”
After recently being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, Mr Eren warned that “COVID-19 is a very dangerous virus” for everyone, especially for people with pre-existing health conditions.
“We can’t just muck around with it.”
He said he was only open to regional Victoria moving to the last step independently if health authorities advised it was safe.
Premier Daniel Andrews hinted yesterday that Melbourne could move to the third step of the roadmap on October 19, with the possibility of additional restrictions on them travelling to regional Victoria.
