MPs and Mayors Work Together

NSW state MP Helen Dalton joined forces with Victorian state Mildura MP Ali Cupper and Mayor Jason Modica and Wentworth Mayor Susan Nicols in calling for an end to hard NSW-Victorian border closures at a joint media conference in Gol Gol on Tuesday morning.

“We are concerned NSW-Victorian border communities are being left off the COVID-19 roadmap to recovery,” Mrs Dalton said “No region in Australia has suffered more from lockdowns than us.”

“We are one community across the Murray and can’t afford to have more random harsh border closures while the rest of Australia is eased into normality.”

All four politicians expressed relief at yesterday’s decision by the NSW Government to prevent Sydneysiders from travelling to regional NSW until late October.

“This is a good decision, but we are still concerned,” Mrs Dalton said

“Sydneysiders travelling here will inevitably lead to a spike in COVID-19 cases.For the past two years, as soon as COVID case numbers rise, we see a hard border closure.”

“We’d like the Victorian and NSW Government to consult with us and work out a way for our small businesses and communities to continue to function.”

The MPs and mayors were also united on the issue of floodplain harvesting – the practice of farmers diverting water into their private dams before it reaches the river.

“Floodplain harvesting in the NSW Northern Basin impacts on us here, on the Murray and the Lower Darling,” Mrs Dalton said.

“More water taken upstream means less water for downstream communities.

“We saw mass fish kills in 2019 in the Lower Darling and mothers bathing their babies with bottled water, because towns had run out of tap water.”

“NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey has said she will go ahead and licence floodplain harvesting this week.

“This is very concerning.”

“NSW parliament isn’t even sitting right now.

“We have an inquiry going in NSW at the moment into floodplain harvesting.”

“Last week, that inquiry heard Northern Basin farmers are taking more water than the Murray Darling Basin Plan allows.”

“We are united in asking the NSW Government to wait for the inquiry recommendations before changing our laws.”

• Topics:

• Covid-19
• Border Closures