Wedding venues vow to go ahead despite COVID rules
A showdown is looming between the state government and the hospitality industry with Premier Gladys Berejiklian threatening heavy fines to venues that operate outside the COVID restrictions after weekend protests went ahead.
NSW
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Wedding venues vowing to throw open their doors in the wake of the weekend’s anti-racism protests face fines in excess of $55,000 – with the Premier declaring businesses who break the rules will “absolutely” be punished.
It comes after the boss of Navarra Venues pledged to reopen his venues to “any numbers” from next month.
“We are reopening. And we are reopening to any numbers,” Sal Navarra said.
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Mr Navarra made the “special announcement” on his company’s Instagram page “after seeing what happened over the weekend”.
“The government obviously over the weekend clearly showed that they allowed (the protest) to have 15,000 or 20,000 people,” Mr Navarra said.
However, Gladys Berejiklian said the wedding venues will be punished if they open to more than the allowed numbers.
“These restrictions are based on health advice, and they’re not there because anybody wants to impose restrictions, they’re there because we know they keep people safe,” she said.
Mr Navarra complained that the weekend’s protests proved restrictions on his industry should be eased.
But Ms Berejiklian urged people to “draw a line in the sand” after the protests.
“This is not the time to do those things that we saw on the weekend but again draw a line in the sand and move forward constructively and cooperatively,” she said.
The Premier said announcements about further relaxed rules will come “imminently”.
Australian Restaurant and Catering Industry Association CEO Wes Lambert said wedding operators “have felt frustration at their current situation given the numbers seen at some protests over the weekend”.
However, the industry association urged companies to work with government.
“What we don’t want is businesses who are feeling that frustration fined or shut down as this will only lead to more frustration and heartache for guests and patrons.”