By Mitchell Clarke
The ‘ring of steel’ separating the Cardinia Shire from Baw Baw Shire, and metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, is set to be removed from Sunday 8 November.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Monday 26 October the harsh boundary divide, along with the 25 kilometre travel limit, will be gone in a matter of weeks, if case numbers continue on a downwards trend.
“I know personally – deeply – just how much this will mean for thousands of Victorians who haven’t been able to see loved ones for far too long,” he said. “It will mean families are whole again. Our state is whole again.”
From 11:59pm on Tuesday 27 October, the struggling hospitality and retail industries can reopen.
But Mr Andrews said the decision to keep the boundary in place until November was simply to “see how this first stage goes”.
“We think the virus picture between Melbourne and regional Victoria will be closely aligned by that time,” he said.
The announcement will no doubt bring some relief to those living east of the “ridiculous” Nar Nar Goon checkpoint.
Frustrated rural residents have again issued pleas for the police stop to be moved back to Longwarry, or to have their restrictions reconsidered.
It comes after Tynong North woman Robyn Keogh was told she couldn’t exercise with a friend, who lived within her 25 kilometre bubble, anywhere between the checkpoint and Longwarry.
Instead, Ms Keogh would need to travel towards Pakenham to meet with her friend, after three officers allegedly said her friend “probably wouldn’t get through” the checkpoint.
“They said ‘because what’s to say your friend isn’t just going to keep driving past your place and into regional Victoria’. They said there was no guarantee that my friend wouldn’t continue on into Warragul,” Ms Keogh explained.
“I rang my friend and said ‘don’t risk it’. I was just so enraged by it all. It’s crazy because I can travel to her no problems, but she can’t come to me.
“People from suburbia like coming out my way for fresh air and nature, especially since they’ve been locked in their houses and small backyards for so long.”
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said there was no way she could “verify” Ms Keogh’s claims but said police could generally gauge whether people were travelling for the right reasons.
While the November date is proof there is an end in sight, some argue it’s come too late.
Liberal Narracan MP Gary Blackwood, who has been pleading with for Cardinia’s rural townships to be “released”, said the boundary removal “cannot come soon enough for those communities”.
“November 8 is still two weeks away and the Premier has indicated that the removal of the ring and 25 kilometre travel limit is still subject to case numbers reducing,” he said.
“What many will still be disappointed about is that it cannot be fixed sooner, as was done for Little River in the western region of the metropolitan zone over the weekend.
“Every extra day under Step 2 Restrictions could trigger the closure of a valued and valuable business, bring people to breaking point and the fabric of our communities closer to long term damage.
“Cardinia’s eastern communities should not be punished for one extra minute for doing the right thing with no infections for months.”
