Victorian opposition leader slams ‘debacle’ travel permit system

Victorian opposition leader Michael O’Brien has slammed the rollout of the state’s new traffic light permit system for interstate travel, labelling it a “debacle”.

The new system was announced at 2pm yesterday, with the online portal now up and running after its 6pm launch was delayed last night.

Mr O’Brien told 3AW’s Tony Jones, filling in for Neil Mitchell, that travellers weren’t given enough notice and the system “clearly was not fit for purpose”.

“Victorians are sick of the government making decisions on a timeline that suits the government, without any consideration for how it affects us,” he said.

The Victorian Liberal leader called for a consistent national approach.

“For Daniel Andrews to come out on his own and say ‘Well, Victoria is going to have a system and our system will be different from every other state in the country’, I just don’t think it makes sense,” he said.

“Let’s have consistency across the country and for goodness sake let’s just make it easy.

“You shouldn’t need a piece of paper from the government to be able to come home.”

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Premier reveals how Victoria’s new travel permit system will work

Image (at top): Getty / Vince Caligiuri