Brown Jug Cafe owner against vaccine mandate

As the deadline approaches for Queenslanders to get the jab or risk being shut out of pubs, cafes and clubs, some businesses have voiced their opposition. This is what they had to say:

Several Gympie businesses have come out as ‘”pro-choice”’ in a social media movement opposing the vaccine mandates due to come into effect on Friday, December 17.

The mandates will restrict venue access for unvaccinated customers in the hospitality sector.

The Brown Jug Cafe and Smooth Brew Cafe in Mary Street are two of the latest Gympie businesses to speak out against the mandate.

As of December 17, hospitality industries such as cafes, fast food outlets and pubs must only allow fully vaccinated customers to enter the premises.

Other venues, including theatres, stadiums, festivals and convention centres are also affected, and all staff must be fully vaccinated.

Council facilities will not be included, meaning anyone can enter any of the region’s public libraries, service counters and gallery regardless of their vaccination status.

Brown Jug Cafe owner Kuchu Ekanayake confirmed the cafe was “pro choice”, though he himself was fully vaccinated.

He said it was up to his staff to decide if they wanted the jab, but declined to comment on how the cafe would operate once the mandate came into force.

Smooth Brew Cafe owner Karen Flack labelled herself and the cafe “pro choice”, but said she would comply with the mandate as the business could not afford otherwise.

“We’re not doing it because we want to … not everyone has 15 grand laying around for a fine, and not everyone has six or 12 months waiting around to go to court for these things to be resolved,” she said.

She said she felt the mandate was “overkill”, and that Queensland’s high vaccination rate was close enough for herd immunity to take effect.

But according to Ms Flack, the majority of the cafe’s customers were pensioners, and in the interest of protecting the customers, Smooth Brew had a record of the vaccination status of its regular customers.

“The ones that I’m not certain of, I’ve sat down privately and had a conversation with them as to what the expectations are going to be,” she said.

She declined to comment on how the vaccine mandate would affect her staff, but said it was “an ongoing issue”.

Farmer and Sun Cafe on the Southside of Gympie has also come out as “pro choice”, but the business declined to comment.

Former Gympie Chamber of Commerce president Tony Goodman, who owns Mary St home wares store Bella Casa, said he “felt for” the hospitality industry, which would be affected by the mandate.

“The fact that there’s probably still a lot of people in this area here who won’t be vaccinated … that is going to be a problem for the pubs and restaurants as such,” he said.

Mr Goodman said there was “some trepidation” from other businesses on how they would weather the mandate, with a lot of concern for businesses in the hospitality sector.

But he said the ultimate solution was to increase Gympie’s vaccination rates.

“At the end of the day, people have just got to get vaccinated.”

The mandate will be enforced by Queensland Police, who have warned there will be heft fines for businesses that do not comply.

A Queensland Police spokesperson told The Gympie Times on Monday businesses could be fined $6892, and individuals $1378 fine.

They said Gympie police would conduct patrols of popular entertainment and dining precincts, particularly over the first weekend of the mandate (next weekend, December 18-19).

The last available update on Gympie region’s vaccination status showed72.9 per cent of the population over the age of 15 was fully vaccinated; placing Gympie as the lowest vaccinated area in the Wide Bay and Sunshine Coast.