MidCoast Council mayor, David West has called on the State government to support the concept of a vaccination passport for everyone who has been fully inoculated against COVID-19.
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Cr West's request was made during a Zoom conference this morning, Friday, September 17 with more than 120 regional and rural mayors, community leaders and State government leaders, including deputy premier, John Barilaro.
Organised by Local Government NSW (LGNSW) president, Linda Scott, the meeting was held to discuss how best to boost regional vaccination rollouts, testing facilities, sewer testing and pathways out of lockdown.
Cr West was concerned residents from the Sydney Basin continued to exploit loopholes in the government's stay-at-home orders, continuing to visit the Mid Coast region.
"The (lockdown) rules are still the same (for Sydney)," Cr West said.
"But, how are we going to stop them."
Cr West acknowledged struggling business operators desperately needed an injection of cash, but at the same time protocols needed to be adhered to.
He believed a vaccination passport could be along similar lines to the existing customer save check-in QR system introduced during the pandemic.
I would like certainty that people can come to this area to generate economic growth through tourism; it's one of our biggest industries.
- MidCoast Council mayor, David West
"I would like certainty that people can come to this area to generate economic growth through tourism; it's one of our biggest industries.
"But, it has to be done without risking people who live here, and it has to be done in such a way it does not impose an added cost to small local businesses."
Cr West also was concerned about the slow roll-out of vaccines in certain parts of the region.
"In some areas of the Mid Coast area there is a wait until mid-November."
Cr West said the deputy premier did amit during the meeting the government had mismanaged the roll-out to reginal parts of the State in the early stages.
"Then they finally realised there was a problem."
Cr West said he fully supported what both the State and Federal governments had undertaken during the past 18 months.
"They have been beaten from pillar to post; how often do you have to deal with a pandemic."
Cr Scott, who described the online meeting as both robust and jam-packed, said the high attendance was a testament to the level of concern regional leaders had.
"Councils need answers on vaccination audits where rates are low, such as Cessnock and in our Indigenous communities, as we all work together to increase the State-wide vaccination rate," Cr Scott said.
Cr Scott said while the meeting focussed on COVID-19 related issues, the deputy premier also acknowledged council concerns surrounding rule changes to infrastructure contributions that threaten to strip councils of their ability to build vital infrastructure communities need to cope with increased development.
"The NSW Government is planning on pushing through rule changes to infrastructure contributions that threaten to take us back to the bad old days of suburbs with no drainage, and communities with no parks
"Deputy premier Barilaro told today's meeting that as a former regional councillor he understood the importance of developer contributions - especially in regions where other sources of council income to pay for infrastructure were scarce - and would look into the issue.
"Cr Scott said many other challenges were raised at the meeting, including:
- lack of COVID vaccination centres in some regions, forcing people to travel for vaccination;
- the potential for some regions to be overwhelmed by city visitors once travel restrictions lifted; and
- ongoing affordable housing shortages starkly illustrated by the impact of the pandemic.