South Australian 'travel bubble' with western Victoria in talks, family arrangements the priority

Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell said she had spoken with the Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell and South Australian Premier Steven Marshall about the possibility of a travel bubble for the region.

"There's obviously some things to work through, but it's heading in the right direction," Ms Britnell said.

"Troy is proposing a postcode-based method and the signing of a statutory declaration to say people haven't been to one of the hotspot areas in Melbourne. That's something I would be supportive of."

Ms Britnell said most of the contact to her office over the past week has been about the cross border issue and the impact its had on family arrangements.

"People respect the reasons South Australia has closed its border, but it's created some issues that I would like to see resolved," she said.

"There are families that have been separated and child custody arrangements that have had to be changed, meaning kids aren't able to see one parent."

A recent poll by The Standard found 20 per cent of 358 respondents had plans to travel to South Australia, which had to be put on hold with many respondents saying family was their reason for wanting to cross the border.

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"Given our region hasn't had a case of coronavirus for 13 weeks, there are grounds for an arrangement to be put in place. To help us get to some sort of normalcy, to allow people to see their families," Ms Britnell said.

"Ultimately, it will be the decision of the South Australian Government, but it's something I am continuing to advocate strongly for."

At the moment, those travelling into South Australia have to fill in a pre-approval form and the restrictions on who can travel across the border, without having to isolate, have tightened.

The SA premier declined to re-open the border this week after a spike in coronavirus cases in Melbourne.

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