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.