‘Safe to visit’: Businesses hit by hunt for alleged police killer urge tourists to return

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A $2.5 million relief package will be delivered to the Porepunkah and Bright region as the manhunt continues for alleged double police killer Dezi Freeman.

The support, announced by the state government on Monday, includes $5000 grants for eligible businesses that have experienced significant disruptions and revenue loss, financial help for the Alpine Shire Council and the local business chamber and tourism marketing and promotional activities to boost visitor numbers to the region.

Bright cafe owner Leanne Boyd welcomed the relief package.

Freeman, also known as Desmond Filby, allegedly shot and killed Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35, during an operation to serve a warrant on August 26.

The 56-year-old then vanished, prompting Australia’s largest ever tactical police operation to try and find him and the offer of a $1 million reward for his capture.

Tourists were warned away from the region with Treasurer Jaclyn Symes saying the relief package would help the local community now and into the future.

“What occurred was shocking and utterly heartbreaking, and we’ll continue to stand with the Porepunkah community and provide them every support they need,” she said. “While our brave emergency services are still responding to this unthinkable crime, we know that businesses need support.”

Locals welcomed the announcement and said the region was struggling, with the travel warning for the area around Porepunkah only lifting at the weekend, just ahead of the upcoming September school holidays.

Leanne Boyd, owner of the Cherry Walk Cafe in Bright, said the aid was desperately needed.

“We have all suffered,” she said. “We welcome that with open arms, we definitely need that. That will at least pay our rent and our power for the month.”

Boyd said her cafe would normally turn over $20,000 a week but last week it was down to $7000.

“People are still tentative about coming back,” she said. “It’s been three weeks. If we can get people’s confidence back, it will be OK.”

Boyd said locals felt safe and hoped that visitors would also feel comfortable returning to the region.

“We are feeling safe and waiting to welcome people with open arms. We understand the police have a job to do, but we are a little bit overwhelmed by them at times. We are looking forward to returning to normal.”

Mt Buffalo National Park remains closed, but the rest of the area is open again.

Victoria Police deputy commissioner for regional operations Russell Barrett said anyone returning to the area, particularly during school holidays could expect to see an increased police presence.

“We would say that they just need to be vigilant, alert, listen to any warnings that are communicated out and certainly adhere to any warnings,” he said.

“We know that there’s people in metro Melbourne who would have holiday houses in this area, and so if they’re attending up here ... we want to know if they see something that’s not right. We want to know if something’s been disturbed. That might be a critical piece of information that will help us ultimately lead to his arrest.”

Barrett said police believed it was safe to reopen the area and welcomed the announcement of a relief package for local businesses.

But he said a decision on Mount Buffalo National Park was yet to be made.

“We have to balance a lot of things when we’re making these decisions, and one is the impact on community, and there’s no doubt that it was having a significant impact on community.”

The area’s state MP, Tim McCurdy, said the region was now entering the recovery phase.

“It is a shot in the arm for those businesses, many who were saying they would not see next week,” the Nationals MP said.

Bright and District Chamber of Commerce president Marcus Warner said $5000 was “not to be sneezed at”, and the tourism program was also important.

“It will go some way to alleviating some of the cost pressures businesses and people in the community are under at the moment,” he said. “Most of our woes will be fixed by people visiting the area.”

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