Update 19/7. Thanks to everyone who read and gave some thought to the petition. Last Monday 13/7, after 5,000 signatories in it's first 3 days, I sent the Premier what I hope was a nicely worded and respectful message to send him the petition and ask that he give it consideration. I let him know that I felt for him and his team at this time and wished them all the very best in their work and decision making as they continue to serve the people of Victoria. I respect that the experts will have a lot more information that we, the public, don’t have so, as they've been doing all along, will make their decisions based on that.

Join with fellow residents on the Mornington Peninsula calling for the Victorian State Government to exclude our Shire from lockdown.

With currently (as at AM 10/7/20) zero active cases on the Mornington Peninsula this latest lockdown of Metropolitan Melbourne plus Mitchell Shire will unnecessarily impact the Mornington Peninsula in so many ways including;

• Employment / Job Losses in an area already hit hard
• More devastating business closures
• Increase in panic buying
• Divert policing from stopping real crime to enforcing $1652 fines
• Depression and Mental Health issues (Lifeline are reporting a 22% increase in call volumes)
• Impact our children's education by forcing most back to home schooling and adding more pressure on parents
• Including us actually allows easy access to the rest of metropolitan Melbourne into the Mornington Peninsula and potentially promoting the spread of the virus. Arguably excluding us would keep us safer

With the inclusion of the Mitchell Shire just above Melbourne, the government has shown it's ability to make exceptions for a Shire 'on the fringe'. Just as the government was able to include a 'fringe' Shire, it would equally be able to exclude a 'fringe' Shire such as the Mornington Peninsula.

Even if the odd case crops up here we can see that Geelong currently have 6 cases, and Bendigo 4 while continuing to be exempt. Even East Gippsland, Wodonga and the Surf Coast have 1 case each and are exempt.

We have shown since the first lockdown here on the Mornington Peninsula we can successfully operate with appropriate social distancing.

So please sign our petition and let's communicate to Daniel Andrews and his Government what a mistake it is to have Mornington Peninsula Shire locked down again.