Grand Hotel Childers, Alchemy Southside feel backlash over Qld Health Covid rules

Wide Bay pubs say complying with Covid mandates under threat of punishment has left them with empty venues amid customer boycotts in communities bitterly divided by the new rules.

Wide Bay businesses believe they are being boycotted by locals over new vaccine mandate rules, reporting near-empty venues as social media users label compliant owners “Judases”.

The Grand Hotel at Childers and Gympie restaurant Alchemy Southside were among the venues to highlight a stark drop in customers since the December 17 mandate when new rules requiring patrons to prove their vaccination status took effect.

These rules restrict access to business including pubs, clubs and hotels for anyone who has not received two doses of a Therapeutic Goods Administration approved Covid vaccine.

The policy has drawn ire from self-professed “freedom fighters”, particularly on social media where the depth of division and subsequent challenge businesses face is most evident.

Claims made on the Hervey Bay and Surrounds Businesses Open to All page have ranged from the outlandish, such as a proposal to buy land and establish a “self sufficient … safe place” or drinking “pine needle tea” as an antidote to the vaccine, to calls to boycott businesses enforcing the restrictions and feel “the sting of income loss”.

The latter was flagged by the Grand Hotel which reported “the worst two days’ trade in our 25-year history”.

The Grand Hotel at Childers and Alchemy Southside at Gympie each reported being left almost empty on December 17 following the start of the restrictions.

Pub staffer Helen Corliss told the Gympie Times businesses had been placed in a difficult position through no fault of their own.

She said the State Government had made it “very clear to us we have to take it seriously”and the hotel did not want to be taken to court or shut down because they refused to follow the laws.

Mrs Corliss said unfortunately in areas like Childers, on the Bruce Hwy between the Fraser Coast and Bundaberg where there were strong opinions about the vaccine, there were not enough customers to make up for those who chose to boycott.

She referenced pages where people were assembling blacklists of venues enforcing the rules and sharing them within their networks and said pubs needed more support.

“We’ve been put in a terrible position,” she said.

In a Facebook post directed to the Queensland Premier the night the restrictions started, the business said guests sent away only helped “other venues became bustling anti-establishment heroes”.

“The worst thing is we were warned and threatened with big fines for not complying with your mandates,” the post read.

“Unfortunately you didn’t hold up to your end of the bargain … we did what we were instructed, no commanded to do … and just like we thought … others did not.”

The post was shared on the Facebook page of One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts, a vocal opponent of the regulations and met with vitriol from some commenters on the page.

Social media commenters have been harshly critical of businesses which have enforced the State’s rules, calling for boycotts.

Among these were accusations of compliant businesses being “Judases”, calls for an end of any support to the pub and claims it should simply not comply and “cop the fine”.

The hotel was not the only business across the Wide Bay region to criticise the impact of the restrictions.

Gympie restaurant Alchemy Southside shared a photo on its Facebook page at the weekend showing an almost empty venue.

“This photo normally has 60+(plus) people in it plus a further 30 inside,” the post said.

“After a gruelling past two years for hospitality owners how much more can we take?”

News Corp reached out to Alchemy Southside for comment.

A Queensland Health spokeswoman said the measures implemented “are based on the best expert medical advice to prioritise the health and wellbeing of Queenslanders”.

“These measures are about keeping Queenslanders safe,” she said.

Under the rules “unvaccinated individuals cannot access specific venues and activities due to the higher risk of transmission they present, where there are people at higher risk if they contract Covid-19 or where contact tracing can prove difficult.

“There are currently no restrictions in place for fully vaccinated people wanting to visit hospitality businesses.”

Hervey Bay Chamber of Commerce President Sandra Holebrook said it was a “tricky” situation but calling for boycotts did more harm than good.

Hervey Bay Chamber of Commerce president Sandra Holebrook said boycotts did nothing more than hurt businesses which were trying to comply with State Government rules.

“By boycotting you’re actively damaging a business, a family a community,” Ms Holebrook said.

She said people were right to be angry about the government-enforced mandate but boycotting was no different than “sabotaging” a business.

Newly elected Gympie Chamber of Commerce president Petra Van Beek called for the State Government to find another way forward.

“We’d like them to find an alternative solution that doesn’t penalise small businesses,” Ms Van Beek said.

She said the GCC was still chasing up a letter highlighting its concerns which was sent to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland and Commissioner for Small Business Maree Adshead.

In the letter, dated November 22, Ms Van Beek said the chamber had received “a lot of distressed feedback” from small businesses about the restrictions.

“While this latest State Government directive may sound simple enough for politicians, the reality for small businesses is anything but simple,” it read

“Indeed, small business owners feel like they’re expected to do the State Government’s work for them.”

While business grapple with the battle over restrictions health services and local leaders were celebrating another milestone on Monday.

Speaking to reporters in Hervey Bay, Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service’s Acting Chief Executive Fiona Sewell said the region’s single dose rate was more than 93 per cent and double dose was more than 86 per cent.

“They’re very high figures,” she said

“Obviously we want more, keep pushing that message about getting vaccinated and also now it’s time to think about your booster as well.

“If you’ve been five months since your second dose then we really encourage you to come in and get your booster.”