Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester says residents and communities just beyond a travel bubble along the New South Wales-Victorian border should be included in the zone.
The New South Wales Government has announced a single border region would be reinstated that extended to 50 kilometres on either side of the border.
Mr Chester said people and areas just outside the 50 kilometre zone should be included in the allowable travel area.
“People living in the far east, including Cann River, Genoa and Mallacoota, regularly travel to Eden and Merimbula for goods and services, including specialist medical appointments, they cannot get close to home,” Mr Chester said.
“The 50 kilometre bubble from the Victorian border ends north of Eden’s town centre. I don’t want to see people getting fined for inadvertently travelling too far.
“Likewise, Cann River is around 60 kilometres from the New South Wales border. It wouldn’t be fair to penalise someone living just north of the border for travelling to Cann River for a permitted reason.
“If compromises are not made, people living around Bonang, for example, will have to be careful if they want to go to Bombala as the centre of town is about 49 kilometres from the border.
“Kristy McBain, who represents communities in Eden Monaro on the other side of the border, has raised these anomalies with me. We will work together to see common sense prevails and people are not fined for straying out of the permitted area.”
The New South Wales Government made the changes to ease restrictions on the NSW/Victorian border to help residents and local businesses operate as Victoria continues to battle its second wave of coronavirus infections.
The new border region and ‘border region resident’ permit will come into effect at 12:01am on Friday, September 4, 2020.
The permits allow people who live in Victoria within 50 kilometres of the New South Wales border to travel up to 50 kilometres into New South Wales to get necessary goods and services, for care or compassionate reasons, or to attend work or education where they cannot do so in Victoria.
They cannot travel outside the New South Wales border region nor can they enter the state if they have travelled to a restricted area in Victoria (currently greater Melbourne).