Gold Coast hospitality boss Glen Day to openly defy Qld govt’s vaccination mandates, due Dec 17

The former chair of the Gold Coast’s hospitality lobby will openly defy vax mandates, arguing his businesses have lost millions in turnover since the start of the pandemic.

The Gold Coast hospitality lobby’s ex-chair says he’ll openly defy vaccination mandates, arguing his businesses have lost millions in turnover in two years.

Glen Day – operator of Pancakes in Paradise, Surfers Paradise and Coolangatta, Montezuma’s Surfers Paradise and The Aztec Broadbeach and Coolangatta – said he had lost $3m to $4m since the pandemic started.

Business owner Glen Day at his Pancakes in Paradise at Surfers Paradise. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The ex-chair of the Restaurant Industry Support Group Gold Coast for a decade said state government mandates, kicking in on December 17 and banning unvaccinated patrons from dining in at hospitality venues, are unfairly geared against the sector.

“The government is making it very difficult for small business, it seems to be the only one hit with this mandate, especially hospitality,” he said.

“I can’t understand why unvaccinated people can’t go into a restaurant when they can get their hair done, when they can go to gyms.”

Mr Day said he won’t be policing vaccination status, or check-ins on the Qld Check-in app, and if a booking had unvaccinated people among the party, he would accept it.

Another post claiming Covid-19 vaccination mandates are like segregation, which was abolished in the 1960s.

“It’s not our job to screen people, it never has been and never will be, I don’t intend to screen people. That will be (the government’s) prerogative,” he said, “If the government wants that done they can have a policeman on the door.

“I’m not vaccinated myself, purely by choice … I don’t think they’ve got it right yet,” Mr Day admitted.

According to the state government’s mandate, this means Mr Day will not legally be allowed into his own venues.

“We’ll definitely try to abide by (the mandate) and do as much as possible that we can do to please the government,” Mr Day said.

“But I’m not paying an extra staff member to stand on the door … we still get really busy on the weekends … you can’t just physically check them all.”

Surfers Paradise has been among one of the hardest hit locations for business, Mr Day said, with a lack of interstate tourists meaning the mecca has been plagued by a lack of customers.

Border closures left his businesses – usually serviced by tourists from Sydney and Melbourne – languishing, he said.

“I haven’t made any money for two years, I’ve borrowed a lot to keep going,” he said.

“If I can’t have everyone come into my restaurant, that’s limiting me again to run my business.

“And staffing is very hard to get now, usually at Christmas time I run about 90 staff. At the moment I’ve got 45, and if I have to put any of those off, I won’t have enough staff to open.”

“If my staff tell me they’re vaccinated that’s good enough for me.”

An Undivided Gold Coast Instagram post comparing two local business operators.

Mr Day’s defiance comes days after Burleigh Pavilion owner Ben May took a hard line on unvaccinated patrons, saying people had know for months about looming mandates and not to try getting into his venue.

A local anti-mandate group, Undivided Gold Coast, has produced a comparison between the two, shared widely on social media.

Mr Day admitted he did speak at an Undivided Gold Coast anti-mandate rally. Similar rallies have seen ironman Trevor Hendy and former Home And Away starlet Isabel Lucas and One Nation’s Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts speak.

Queensland Education United was among the 6000 strong crowd at the Reclaim the Line rally at the Border Monument, Coolangatta on December 12, 2021. Picture: Richard Gosling

Acting Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman said businesses faced hefty fines for failing to comply with the directions and urged the community to dob in those not following the rules.

Asked if he had a message for businesses intending on defying the restrictions from Friday, he said: “This is a big picture, it’s not only around the mandate, and it’s not around the directions. It’s around people’s health.”

Supt Wildman said a police operation would target compliance from Friday.

Acting Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“Those officers will be tasked specifically to look at non-compliance and that’s not only businesses but also the individuals, remembering the focus is very much on the individuals.

“It is the individual’s requirement to check in and comply with those directions.

“The businesses we will support in attempting to achieve the Chief Health Officer’s outcomes.

“We will always stick to the triple C approach: Which is that compassion, communication, compliance, and we also reinforce that businesses that continually disobey the direction they’re the ones likely to face enforcement activities.”

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