‘Just the start’: Survey reveals 158 Rocky, Coast jobs at risk due to vaccine mandates

Startling figures have been produced which show the number of jobs that may be lost and there’s a warning that it could just be the beginning.

A group representing Capricorn Coast business owners and tourist operators has painted a bleak picture as the vaccine mandate impacts operations throughout the region.

A survey of 244 business owners and employees recently conducted by the Capricorn Coast Business Owners Pro Choice Group found that 158 jobs in Rockhampton and on the Capricorn Coast were at risk as a result of the mandate introduced by the Queensland Government on December 17.

This information was delivered to Livingstone Shire councillors this week, as well as a warning it could just be the beginning with more to come.

Here are all of the results from the survey conducted by the Capricorn Coast Business Owners Pro Choice Group:

- 244 respondents (43 per cent of those were business owners);

- 5740 staff or employees affected in Livingstone Shire and Rockhampton;

- 64 per cent or 2919 staff who do not wish to be vaccinated;

- Wide range of industries affected: Health services, education, retail, tourism, hospitality, social and community services, IT or telecommunications, mining, events/live performance;

- 52 per cent of respondents were on restricted business list (rest of respondents are still affected, even though they are not part of the restricted business list);

- 65 per cent of respondents are at risk of losing their employment. A further 18 per cent are unsure if they will be at risk of losing their employment due to mandates;

- 37 per cent of respondents will lose 80 per cent to 100 per cent of their annual income and revenue;

- 59 per cent of respondents will lose more than half their annual income or revenue;

- $45 million projected income loss and lost revenue due to mandates from 244 respondents.

Pumpkin Island operator Laureth Rumble.

Pumpkin Island operator Laureth Rumble, speaking as a member of the Capricorn Coast Business Owners Pro Choice Group, said the vaccine mandates were “creating a very nasty society and one we definitely don’t want to be a part of.”

“After Cyclone Marcia, our community banded together and strangers helped each other out,” Mrs Rumble said.

“It was wonderful to watch.

“These mandates are ripping apart the very fabric of our united community by discriminating against people and ruining their right to choose in more ways than one.”

Both Mrs Rumble and Karla McPhail, who runs 10 Capricorn Coast businesses which collectively employ more than 800 people, indicated the jobs currently at risk was just the start of the impacts on businesses and Mrs McPhail went as far as to say that the vaccinations mandate was “unsustainable” for businesses.