An Aboriginal community near Uluru has called for the tourist destination to remain closed if travellers from Victoria are allowed to enter the Northern Territory.
The NT's borders are due to reopen on July 17, but the Mutitjulu Community Aboriginal Corporation (MCAC) said it would like see the Ayers Rock Airport closed to interstate flights.
The NT Government has declared all of Melbourne a coronavirus hotspot, meaning people who have travelled there will be forced into quarantine when Territory borders open next week, though people from regional Victoria will not be subject to the same restrictions.
MCAC said that if the Northern Territory did not create a hard border with the entire state of Victoria, it would like to see the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park closed as well.
"The board thinks the risk of just closing to hot spots is too great, people will still come anyway," chief executive Tahlia Bohl-Vandenbaoogaard said.
"If those people are flying to Yulara, those people will be just 25 kilometres from our community, and there is so much interaction between the community and Yulara."
Ms Bohl-Vandenbaoogaard said the board would prefer anyone visiting Uluru to fly into Alice Springs airport, where tourists could quarantine if required.
There is no provider of mandatory supervised quarantine in Yulara, the resort town near Uluru.
Ditching quarantine
Ms Bohl-Vandenbaoogaard said the community became concerned when a tourist who flew into Alice Springs did not follow the protocol.
"They … ditched their quarantine in Alice Springs, completely ignoring their quarantine requirements," she said.
"Parks staff pulled them up … they said, 'We've just come from Alice Springs and thought we'd come and see the rock.'"
The tourist was tested for coronavirus and returned a negative result.
"It's a really scary thought, because we don't get a second chance," Ms Bohl-Vandenbaoogaard said.
"If it comes into the community, that will be the end."
Voyages, which runs Ayers Rock Resort, confirmed that a person had illegally left their quarantine in Alice Springs to visit Uluru.
MCAC's plea echoed concerns shared by other peak bodies that have called for an immediate hard border with Victoria, in line with Australia's other states and territories.
Donna Ah Chee, from the Central Australian Aboriginal Health Congress, said such a measure needed to be put in place immediately.
"There are no travel restrictions between Melbourne and regional Victoria," she said.
"There is no way to contain it in Melbourne.
"I'm perplexed by this decision — I'm not sure what's behind this decision, it's clearly not about public health."
