Premier Daniel Andrews released a five-step reopening roadmap on September 7, which leaves many venues unable to re-open until regional Victoria reaches less than five cases on average over 14 days and 0 cases with an unknown source over 14 days.
Tarn Hayes from The Big Strawberry said the economic impact on smaller towns was one which hasn’t been catered for in the latest guidelines.
“In a word, it is frustrating – there are just no other ways to describe it,” she said.
“It is definitely not good for tourism and tourism is such a big part of not just our area but all along the Murray.
“We really need to know what the other states are doing as well. I am not up to speed what is going on in NSW, there has been no mention about when they are going to re-open the border.”
Cactus Country’s John Hall said the damages brought on by a third wave would be irreparable to many local businesses, labelling the situation a “catch 22”.
“I feel like the government are doing the best with what they have got and, in the meantime, we have got to try and battle through until we can open again,” he said.
“The longer we stay in lockdown, the more money the government has to spend on JobKeeper and JobSeeker. The longer businesses can’t operate, the longer they need government support.
“There are a whole heap of knock-on effects to every decision they make.”
Mrs Hayes and Mr Hall agreed that the government’s grouping of regional Victoria was proving detrimental.
“The only thing I feel like communicating to the decision makers is to look at regional Victoria in different sections,” Mr Hall said.
“Rather than lumping us all together, it would be beneficial if they said ‘if that region can create their own bubble and can be safe then we can open that region earlier.”
Similarly, Mrs Hayes made the point areas with less cases, such as Cobram, are being dragged down by districts on the other side of the state.
“The government are talking about ‘maybe we are going to be open’ but that is down to how many cases we have - there is nothing anything can do about that except the government,” she said.
“For me what sticks out the most is areas like Geelong have come under the regional Victoria banner – but they are so close to Melbourne.”
Ultimately, without a clear timeframe mapped out for future re-opening, Mrs Hayes feared for the local economy approaching the end of the year.
“It’s concerning; are we still going to be like this at Christmas time which is everyone’s busiest time of the year,” she said.
“Small local businesses all benefit from tourism at some point over the Christmas and New Year period, I would hate to see our whole area suffer even more over what should be a really busy time for everyone involved.”
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