Victorians might be forced to wear masks and follow their home-state's restrictions while in NSW when the border opens on November 23.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Currently Wodonga residents with a border resident permit are not required to wear a mask in Albury, but Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has flagged that come the reopening of the border this could change.
Mr Andrews said during the height of the Melbourne lockdown when the city had different COVID restrictions to regional Victoria, Melburnians in the regions still had to follow the stricter metro restrictions.
"The rules as they applied in Melbourne followed you when you went into regional Victoria, I'll need to speak to the CHO about whether he has views on whether Victorian rules follow you when you move into another state," he said on Sunday.
Wodonga-based member of the Victorian legislative council Tim Quilty said the suggestion was "obvious nonsense" and the premier was treating the state's inhabitants like children.
He said Victorian residents should not be forced to wear masks in regional areas, let alone interstate.
"As Premier he must know that Victorian laws stop at the border" Mr Quilty said.
"We were asking for a solution to Wodonga residents going into Albury to shop because they don't need masks, and they respond with this - all Victorians have to wear masks in NSW. It isn't what we had in mind, but it's typical for this government.
"Who is going to enforce it? Will they be be sending Victoria Police into NSW under cover to break all the rules of jurisdiction, carrying out snatch and grab extractions on naughty Victorians?"
The Victorian NSW border is due to reopen at 12.01am November 23, more than five months after it closed.
Mr Andrews said anyone with the even the slightest symptoms should not travel interstate or to a regional area - even if they suspect it's just hayfever or a cold.
"You cannot be travelling within Victoria or anywhere else if you are unwell because unbeknownst to you, you might have this virus," he said.
"You might spread it to many, many other people who in turn infect others and you finish up with lots and lots of cases."
The announcement came a day after Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton's own COVID hospitality restrictions saw him turned away from the Bright Brewery twice.
"Mr Sutton was a great sport when our staff explained that under his own COVID-restrictions, we unfortunately did not have the space to seat him," the brewery said on Facebook.