With the opening of pubs, changes in guests to the home and even hints at overseas travel – there was one detail that slipped by almost unnoticed.
On Monday morning, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian bombarded the citizens of her state with an avalanche of reopening info.
It was a lot to take in. She talked about pubs, clubs, funerals and schools. Outdoor settings, indoor settings, picnics and pools. The unusual phrase “vertical drinking” was welcomed into the vernacular.
But one detail slipped by almost unnoticed. The Premier quietly backtracked on her promise to let Sydneysiders travel regionally by the time we reached 70 per cent vaccination rates, which is predicted to occur on or around October 11.
It’s now been pushed back to the 80 per cent mark, which will be at least two weeks later.
It mightn’t sound like much – what’s two weeks to a city that hasn’t travelled more than three postcodes for months? – but it still stings. Mama Gladz promised.
As recently as September 9, NSW Health published a road map which stated very clearly that “domestic travel, including trips to regional NSW, will be permitted” once the state reached its target of 70 per cent vaccinations.
It’s like, a friend quipped, your parents promised you a trip to Disneyland if you cleaned your room for a month, only at the end they barked, “Sorry your brother isn’t tall enough for the rides, maybe next year, good work on the bed though.”
There are two groups this sly sidestep will hurt the most:
The first is Sydneysiders with family in different parts of the state, who haven’t been able to see beloved parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles since June (and probably longer than that because it’s not as if anyone saw the current lockdowns coming and stockpiled mass family time in preparation).
Many of us had accommodation or restaurant bookings locked in for October; some of which we’d already postponed several times over.
Two weeks means more confusion, more rebookings, lost money and a general sense of betrayal and unease, all of which makes us less likely to trust that planning any kind of travel is worth our while just yet.
The second group is regional businesses, particularly tourism businesses. The uncomfortable truth is that once international borders reopen – which the Premier says is likely in December – NSW residents will be on the first plane out of Sydney, to paraphrase Cold Chisel.
It’s entirely feasible that regional NSW hotels and hospitality venues only have a small window of time to welcome Sydneysiders and recoup some of their losses from the last 18 months. And the Premier has just lopped two weeks off that window.
Of course, some in NSW regional towns are perfectly happy to see Sydney people keeping their filthy Covid fug well away from them for as long as possible.
“I will personally be putting roadblocks up on the highway to the mid-north coast if she doesn’t ban travel there!” cried one NSW commenter on social media just before Ms Berejiklian’s announcement. “Some selfish person has already brought it [the virus] here last week from out of the area!”
No need for roadblocks, Barbara. Gladys put a few in for you.
Like it or lump it, regional folk, Sydneysiders are coming for you, armed with our double vax and our unspent cash. You have a few more weeks to prepare than we all originally thought but we’ll be there soon and we can’t wait.
As long as Goalpost Gladys doesn’t let us down again.
