Covid vaccination: QLD Business leaders push government harder on jabs

With the bulk of his Brisbane office vaccinated, Graham Turner reckons the government should be as tough on Covid-19 jabs as it is on quarantine.

Business leaders are becoming increasingly vocal over COVID-19 vaccination take-up, with the boss of travel giant Flight Centre calling for vaccines to be made mandatory.

Flight Centre managing director Graham Turner said on Monday that if the government ordered people into hotel quarantine it could mandate the jab.

He said Australia was in a race to get everyone vaccinated so borders could reopen and life could return to normal.

“It just seems strange that we can mandate compulsory hotel quarantine but make vaccinations voluntary,” said Mr Turner.

“The reluctance to make it compulsory could be political but it just seems to be a double standard.”

Mr Turner’s comments came after Brisbane-based airline Alliance Aviation this week ordered all of its workers to undergo vaccination for COVID-19 or face potential disciplinary action.

Alliance, which has contracts with major mining companies and operates numerous flights for Qantas and Virgin Australia, has issued the vaccination policy, stating “all employees will take part in the Alliance Group Immunisation Program”.

Alliance is believed to be the first Australian company to mandate the jab.

Contractors and their employees will also be required to be vaccinated to conduct work on Alliance Group worksites, the policy states.

Alliance managing director Scott McMillan said management and the company’s board of directors took the view that they had a legal obligation to provide a safe workplace for staff and customers.

Despite his tough stance on vaccination, Flight Centre’s Mr Turner said he would not make jabs compulsory for his own staff, noting that most were already vaccinated.

“There has really not been a need for us to make it compulsory,” said Mr Turner.

“Our Brisbane headquarters is next to the Mater Hospital respiratory clinic and we have been encouraging people to go down in the afternoon to get vaccinated, including younger people under 50.”

He said more than 90 per cent of the 600 people at its Brisbane head office had already been vaccinated.

Flight Centre managing director Graham Turner. Picture: Dan Peled

Suncorp’s executive leadership team meanwhile have been receiving their vaccines over recent weeks and posting photos on internal employee channels to encourage staff to get the vaccine when they are eligible.

A Suncorp spokeswoman said that while it was “encouraging and supporting” employees to get their vaccines, it would not make it mandatory.

The spokesperson said it was offering staff leave to attend vaccination and medical appointments.

Both rail giant Aurizon and BoQ also said they were not making the jab mandatory but encouraging staff to do so to protect themselves and others.

A Heritage Bank spokesman said the Covid-19 vaccination was not a mandatory requirement for its 800 staff.

“But we’re certainly encouraging them to do so,” he said. “We have not offered any incentives at this stage but we are just encouraging them to get along and get it done as soon as they can.”

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland industrial relations specialist Michael O’Brien said making vaccinations mandatory could face legal challenges, with childcare being the only sector where it was compulsory.

Mr O’Brien said much would depend on the risk facing employees and whether it was considered necessary for their jobs.

“If someone is working on a flight within Queensland, the risk to someone would be minimal,” said Mr O’Brien.

“However, it might be different if they were flying from Queensland to Melbourne.”

He said employees also could object to mandatory vaccinations on health or religious reasons.

Woolworths, which is one of the nation’s biggest employers, will provide up to four hours of vaccination leave for full-time and part time staffers.

Woolworths has committed that no casual staffers will lose rostered hours if vaccination appointments cannot be sourced outside of rostered shifts.

Originally published as Covid vaccination: QLD Business leaders push government harder on jabs