NSW has partially loosened stringent coronavirus restrictions on farmers and agricultural contractors, crossing into the state from Victoria.
Agricultural workers can now gain an exemption to travel up to 100km into NSW, for work, without first having to quarantine in Sydney, for two weeks.
Farmers and agricultural contractors have been pleading for a common-sense approach to border closures after authorities said the only way they could get into large parts of NSW was to enter through Sydney.
Victorian sheep producers, wanting to buy rams in upcoming NSW sales, agricultural contractors chasing work and farmers seeking access to properties, north of the Murray River, have all been denied entry.
Under the changes, individuals will be able to access a new Highly Specialised Critical Services (Agriculture) Permit if they:
- Provide a highly specialised critical agricultural service;
- Are moving and working anywhere within 100 kilometres of the NSW/Victorian border, on the NSW side;
- Comply with strict conditions if staying overnight; and,
- Adhere to other safety requirements, including self-isolating when not delivering the critical service.
Exemptions for individuals needing to move beyond the 100km limit for work will be considered on a case-by-case basis, NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall said.
"This is a sensible solution to the issues caused by recent changes and ensures our state's agriculture sector has the workforce it needs to keep powering ahead in the midst of improving seasonal conditions," he said.
"While this will be very welcome news, it does not solve all the problems and in my view, is just the first step towards allowing the critical agriculture sector on both sides of border to operate freely, as it needs to.
"At my request, the Health Minister has committed to reviewing the Public Health Order again next week."
He said he would keep working with industry and his colleagues to ensure the right policy settings were place to support our state's agriculture industry and protect the health and wellbeing of NSW residents.
The list of approved highly specialised critical agricultural services includes:
Dairy: technicians, consultants, artificial insemination specialists
Horticultural: technicians, machinery operators and mechanics, harvesters, pruners, consultants for agronomy, plant health, harvest management, pest and disease.
Wool: testing technicians, shearers
Specialist consultants: agronomists, nutritionists, veterinary, seed and crop researchers
Agribusiness specialists for where internet or video conference facilities cannot be accessed
Crop: harvesters, hay and silage contractors, rice sowing contractors, crop spray/fertiliser contractors
Forestry: workers and technicians
Intensive livestock: piggery/poultry (egg and broiler) technicians, processing workers, stockfeed mill operators
Specialist contractors/equipment: irrigation specialists, fencing contractors
Specialist agricultural service providers: market access inspectors, saleyard operators and agents, livestock carriers
Commercial fishing: crew and operators, Aquaculture operators/technicians
Beekeepers: commercial operators
Commercial wine production: technicians, specialists involved in the production, harvest, testing and management of vintage
Biosecurity officers: pest trap inspectors, pest and weed controllers
Cross-border rural property landowners: leaseholders, agistment holders or their agents directly involved in or responsible for land management, livestock husbandry, agronomy pest and disease control and production management
"It's safe from a health perspective to protect people in NSW from COVID-19 clusters in Victoria," Mr Marshall told the ABC.
"But it also allows critical agriculture workers, including shearers, agronomists, and other employees to come across the border, and those people who own properties and farms on both sides of the border."
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About a week and a half ago, NSW suddnely shut its border with Victoria to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Residents can apply for a NSW border entry permit, to cross from Victoria, under certain conditions.
A permit system also applies to border zone residents, who live in the "border bubble" strip, on either side of the Murray River, and down to the Pacific Ocean.
Permits are being issued to a person who:
- is authorised to enter and remain in NSW only for work, education, medical or health care, or providing or receiving care to a vulnerable person, and
- must not travel to any part of NSW that is outside of the border zone and
- must not enter NSW if they have travelled in Victoria outside the border zone within the previous 14 days.
Agriculture is deemed a critical service, under the public health order.
Police officers at the border have the power to refuse entry to non-NSW residents, who they believe present an unacceptable risk of transmitting COVID-19.
Police and public health officers will also be able to direct you to leave NSW if you are not a NSW resident and you are not authorised to enter NSW under the public health order.
A person found breaching the Public Health (COVID-19 Border Control) Order 2020 faces an $11,000 fine and six months in prison.
New system
Mr Marshall said under the new permit system, visitors to NSW who stayed the night would have to isolate and ideally be accommodated on the property that they were actually working at.
"If they are coming across in the day, they can return back to Victoria and keep coming across each day,' Mr Marshal said.
"This is absolutely vital, not just for our border communities but our overall economy."
Mr Marshall said the situation had been "incredibly frustrating".
"It has taken far too long," Mr Marshall said.
"I would have loved to have had this done on Monday [last] week, but the health process is a difficult one to navigate.
Mr Marshall said he hoped to relax the distance condition when he meets with Health Minister Brad Hazzard in a week's time.
"It has been frustrating," Ms Symes said.
"We've been dealing with this for five weeks now, and it's been a case of one step forwards, two steps back.
"The amount of people who go into supporting the agriculture sector, I don't think is something the politicians out of Sydney have really had an appreciation of."
Ms Symes said it was very concerning
"Whilst I understand the NSW government's desire to protect their residents from the threat of coronavirus, I would certainly implore that any restrictions would be proportionate to that risk.
"There are very few cases, in the north of our state, we have very severe restrictions on metropolitan Melbourne, there are very few reasons anyone from metroplitan Melbourne can travel into regional Victoria."
She said she wouldn't have thought the border restrictions had to be as tight as they were.
"I think that common sense should prevail, and we should be looking at solutions that ensure those critical services continue."
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