A larrikin potato farmer struggling through Victoria's Covid lockdown has jokingly called for a 'Donald Trump-style wall' to keep Melburnians out of his idyllic coastal community.
Residents in the glamorous Mornington Peninsula are fed-up with having to abide by the same harsh lockdown restrictions as Metropolitan Melbourne, despite being over 100km away.
The community is calling for the Andrews Government to reclassify the popular getaway for the rich and famous, scattered with wineries and rich agricultural land, as a regional area so it can escape the gruelling stay-at-home orders of the big smoke.
Health authorities lifted lockdown restrictions for regional Victoria last week, but did not include the Mornington Peninsula in the reopening - despite some areas much closer to the capital being granted freedom.
Residents in the glamorous Mornington Peninsula are fed-up with having to abide by the same harsh lockdown restrictions as Metropolitan Melbourne, despite being over 100km away (pictured, Sorrento)
Residents in the the popular getaway for the rich and famous want to be reclassified as a regional area to escape the stay-at-home orders (pictured, Mills Beach on the peninsula)
Richard Hawke, a sixth-generation potato who runs the Hawke's Farm Gate said: 'We are following the same rules as metropolitan Melbourne but we're on a farm,' he told A Current Affair.
'It defies logic a little bit but I guess their reasoning is that they can't stop people coming down here.
'I wish there was a magic boom gate which could stop people from coming down and enable us in the Mornington Peninsula to open up.
'One of Donald Trump's walls,' he joked.
A nearby winemaker said his once thriving business has been devastated by the shutdown.
'Although we are thankful for all the support we have received, it only represents about 0.8 of a per cent of our expenses we have had in the last year,' 10 Minutes by Tractor winery owner Martin Spedding said.
'It needs to change and recognise what the Mornington
