Residents of a community bordering South Australia and Victoria have been disappointed by a last-minute decision to stop some attending the local agricultural show.
Key points:
- Victorian residents of a cross-border community have been told they cannot attend the Pinnaroo Show
- It comes after a positive COVID-19 case in Mount Gambier led the government to tighten cross-border rules
- Residents are frustrated they are being subjected to tighter rules again
Tight-knit border town Pinnaroo, in South Australia, and Murrayville, on the Victorian side, have been looking forward to the Pinnaroo Show and Field Day after it was cancelled last year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Show organisers, including Kerry Heinicke, president of the Pinnaroo Agricultural Society, had been campaigning to SA Health for an exemption for Victorian residents to attend the show, which had not been classed as an essential reason to cross the border.
And on Saturday night they thought they had succeeded.
But after a woman tested positive to COVID-19 in Mount Gambier over the weekend, and the cross-border travel arrangements were tightened, organisers say SA Health changed their mind, and decided to prohibit Victorian residents from coming to the show.
"Then after everything happened in Mount Gambier, they left me a text message on Sunday night saying that that had all changed, and that the Victorians now wouldn't be able to come." she said.
'This community lives as one'
ABC Riverland: Meg Vonic-Joyce
)The Victorian residents, who conduct most of their business in Pinnaroo, have been left devastated by the news.
Synon Peers lives in the Victorian town on Murrayville, just over 20 kilometres from the border, but owns a workshop in Pinnaroo, and goes there for shopping and most other things.
"I live in Murrayville and everyone has just had a gutful of being spat out all the time. We've still done nothing wrong, we've done all the right things [but] we can't travel anywhere, we've been locked down ... and now we can't even go to our local show. Which is a pretty big deal." Mr Peers said.
Giles Oster from the Pinnaroo Agricultural Society, who helps organise the show, says it is very disappointing that the Victorian members of the community will not be able to attend.
"They are part of our community and we rely on them and their involvement. They're Pinnaroo people, they're community people here. But it's been like that since this pandemic has been forced upon us," he said.
Border troubles
After the positive case in Mount Gambier, the border bubble has been reduced from 70 kilometres to 30 kilometres on the Victorian side and 40 kilometres on the South Australian side. Residents are again required to show evidence of a negative COVID test every seven days.
Di Thornton is the owner and nurse practitioner of Mallee Border Health Centre. She travels between Pinnaroo and the Victorian towns of Murrayville and Underbool, providing an essential medical service to rural people.
ABC News: Jessica Schremmer
)She says the reduction in the bubble has meant she is not able to get to Underbool anymore, and many of those people are now unable to access medical care.
"Unfortunately the Underbool community misses out again because they're further than the 30 kilometre-restrictions that have been imposed upon us. And they don't have any visiting health professionals apart from myself one day a week. So there is no service for them if I don't go." Ms Thornton said.
Members of the community feel the rules should be applied in a more targeted way, as they are hundreds of kilometres from Mount Gambier and have been following the rules.
"I just think it's not a measured approach. Mount Gambier is four hours south of us, and those of us on the northern end of the border have not had any cases throughout the whole pandemic at any stage within our bubble," said Ms Thornton.
Tiffany Atze runs a sheep shearing business with her husband. They operate out of Pinnaroo on both sides of the border.
She says the tightening of border measures has meant some of her staff don't have a permanent address in Pinnaroo, meaning they can't be eligible for cross border travel.
"They can't cross over for work, and that has reduced our ability — we only have three shearers that can currently go cross over the border and one shedhand, and one of them is my husband."
Community members say the return to weekly testing is an unnecessary burden, and will mean some will miss out on work while they accommodate testing.
"So they're gonna have to try and find to leave the shed, and go without work, not work for a period so that they can get into town to get testing done, to be able to fill those requirements," Ms Atze said.
'The show must go on'
Supplied: Barry Manglesdorf
)Despite the absence of Victorian members of the community, and the ongoing border issues, the organisers of the Pinnaroo Show say they hope it can provide a social occasion for the community during the pandemic.
The Pinnaroo Show and Field Day opened today, and will host events including a motorcross display from local kids, vertical sheep tossing, speed shearing and billy cart and Jack Russell Terrier racing.
"It means a lot, it really does. This is the 104th time that we've gathered together as a community to do it," said show organiser Giles Oster.
"It's all about providing opportunity for people to come together. You know, the kids get excited."
Community dismayed after COVID-19 case prevents travel to local show - ABC News
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