“New Year’s Leave” affects border businesses

In the blink of an eye, New Year’s Eve celebrations turned into a “new year’s leave” as border town Barham went from a buzz of excited holiday makers and visitors to a state of confusion with tough COVID-19 border closures and restrictions ruining any positive ringing in of the new year.

From Boxing Day boom trades and fully booked accommodation to an unwelcome and unexpected late New Year’s Eve Victorian Government border closure announcement, new year festivities and holiday plans were thrown into chaos.

As the communication filtered through, confusion for visitors and campers resulted in a mass exodus with a desperate bid to cross back over the bridge into Victoria to avoid quarantine and lockout.

Sharon Gawronski, co-owner of the small family business Barham Holiday Park - Oasis on the Murray, spoke on how the New Year’s Eve plans turned from a happy holiday destination to panic within hours.

“As the vans arrived, just lots of smiles and happy faces, and we were thinking ‘here we go – we are back in business again, things are picking up.’ We were looking forward to the new year, looking forward to 2021 to be better than 2020. Then whammo...

“It (the government announcement) came very late. We found out via people who were staying here. People just came in and were panicking and said ‘We’ve got to go home.’ 

“We weren’t aware of what was happening with the border closure until we saw more on the news and Facebook.

“It was absolutely chaotic, everyone wanted to come in to pay their bills and they wanted to get their permits to get back across the river, and everyone was out there frantically packing up.

“People were pouring into the office, queues were out the door. They thought we had more information than they did, but this wasn’t the case.

“It was really, really stressful, not just for them but for us as well because we didn’t really know what was going on. 

Manager of Barham Caravan and Tourist Park, Vicki Bassett, also shared a similar story for New Year’s Eve with visitors departing quickly, leaving the park nearly empty.

“We were fully booked. Everybody was having a lovely time, enjoying their stay. 

“It was really devastating that they called it at 3.30pm-4pm on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve. Not enough information was put out there, everybody was confused, it was just mayhem. 

“Everyone wasn’t sure what they should be doing. We weren’t sure either. It led to refunds, but some people kept their credits. 

“It impacts everybody, the supermarkets, the pub. The whole town has been impacted of course, as they got in stock, and now it’s like a ghost town.

“It went from thriving, enjoying themselves to an eerie silence, is how I would describe it.

“The next hurdle is going to be Australia Day. We are fully booked three weeks away. Who knows what’s going to happen between now and then, but hopefully a bit more normality and people can start travelling again. 

Trend Skate n Surf and Toys n Outdoors business owners Bree and Dave Derksen had a busy lead up to Christmas and New Year. They too felt the impact of the border closure heading into the new year.

“Christmas was crazy. Lots of visitors and lots of locals coming back as well. Really busy between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve, again, tourists and locals. 

“We opened the Saturday following on from New Year’s Day. The town was like a ghost town pretty much, it was so quiet, it was eerie quiet.

“We will keep doing what we can do. We will always keep the doors open for our community as long as we feel safe and they feel safe. We are still doing everything from hand sanitising and store limit of people and wiping down of surfaces regardless, but this is a reminder that this is still real and how quickly things can change. It was like a whirlwind.”

Lisa Frankling, manager of Murray Blu shared how business changed so quickly from Christmas to new year.

“Leading up to Christmas it was great. With a lot of local support and visitor support, it was amazing. Even just after Christmas it was looking like it was going to be a great holiday with a lot of visitors in town. 

“Once the border closure kicked in, it was like everybody left town instantly. It has been felt, even today (Monday). I think this is where we are going to feel it now.

“It should never have happened the way that it happened. 

“We will strive on and will stay open and are hoping everything will get turned around very quickly.”

For Shoosh’s Ainsley Fyfe it was like all her Christmas’ had come at once as the festive season rolled in but then things changed quickly.

“The positive shopping response by everyone even after the business pivot during COVID-19, going online, closing for a little while due to home learning and back again once the school reopened, kept the juggle real.

“The week between Christmas and New Year was phenomenal, I couldn’t believe it. The number of people in town, it was booming, absolutely fantastic.

“All the retailers felt a lot more positive and there were going to be a lot more around for January, but that then went.

“We are going to ride it through, it’s just another wave but they’re just coming a lot quicker than we thought.”

Golden Rivers Real Estate owner, Lauren Polkinghorne, said the holiday management side of the business had mass cancellations.

“With bookings over 12 months ago and late bookings between Christmas and New Year they were fully booked.

“Amid a lot of confusion, bookings were cancelled and refunded as tourists fled the state back to Victoria.

“The cancelling caused exhausting hours of work in working through the situation. 

“Those who were here were trying to work out when they were going to leave while others were cancelling in advance. 

“It was a long day with trying to answer questions about the changes and those who had inspections requesting to do them before the border closed. 

Barham IGA Supermarket’s Mel and Glenn Faul also felt the impacts.

“We were 25% up on last year and having a boomer. It was amazing - the amount of people in town - and the support, and taken away from us in hours,” said Glenn.

“They were spending everywhere.” 

Ordering stock to support the influx of visitors to the town for this time of year is generally done days to a week out. With all departing the town in an instant, the business was left with excess stock. 

“An example of this is with my milk order. I had to order Thursday lunchtime on New Year’s Eve for Saturday delivery. At that stage we had between 800 to 900 customers coming through our doors every day. Overnight, that was taken back to 300 and (we) couldn’t do anything about it. 

“It was three times what I would normally order.

“A lot of perishable orders we placed last Monday, are yet to hit store, they’re still coming.

“It’s the holiday food,” said Mel.

“And who wears the cost of this? We throw it in the bin,” Glenn said.

“The frustrating thing is, the people who make these decisions, they get the same amount in their pay packet every week regardless of what happens. There is a confidence lost in those people too. 

“I feel for the accommodation providers mostly. COVID-19 really hit them hard obviously, like it did all of us. But they have only one income stream and this is their bread and butter, and this was to get them through those quieter times. 

“I actually feel for the whole town,” said Mel.

New managers of Barham Caltex, Angela Fedley and Lee Miller, were also affected with the business riding a positive wave and then slowing again to a crawl.

“The switch went off. To say the least, it was disgusting.

“It could’ve been handled much better. Not everyone had to leave right from the start, not everyone had to get out of town. Massive implications. 

“There is no business in this border town that would not have suffered, none at all. Our priority is this place,” said Lee.