Phillip Island cafe closes to dine-in customers over controversial vax mandate

A Phillip Island cafe owner is refusing to enforce the vaccination mandate, closing its doors to dine-in customers and choosing to sell takeaway only.

Island Whole Foods are selling takeaway food only because of the controversial vax mandate. Picture: Facebook

A Phillip Island cafe has closed its doors to dine-in customers and is choosing to sell takeaway food only because it refuses to enforce the vaccination mandate.

Under restrictions in Victoria, food and drink facilities are not allowed to open if their workers and customers are not fully vaccinated or if their vaccination status is unknown, and can only serve takeaway.

Island Whole Foods owner Tom Kendall told The Bass Coast News the decision was triggered after a pregnant unvaccinated customer wasn’t allowed to sit down at his vegan plant-based cafe.

Mr Kendall said the woman was hesitant about getting the jab but her partner was fully vaccinated.

“I can totally understand where she was coming from,” he said.

“How can someone sit in the cafe on Thursday but on Friday they are a threat to society?

“It made us mad.”

Mr Kendall said information about new hospitality regulations had been “horrible” from the state government.

“It feels like they are making up rules on the fly and it doesn’t feel right,” he said.

“Certainly as a business owner we are extremely tired of them just bringing in a new regulation or a new operating procedure.”

Mr Kendall, who is fully vaccinated, said he isn’t an anti-vaxxer but doesn’t agree with people being “coerced” into getting the jab.

“We are not, in any way, trying to dissuade people from being vaccinated,” he said.

“We just think the government is getting carried away with what they are doing and there doesn’t seem to be any sense or logic to it anymore.”

The Cowes cafe owner said although some people haven’t agreed with his latest move, feedback had been “overwhelmingly supportive”.

“We’ve had messages from a dozen other cafes saying good on you for taking a stand because this isn’t right,” Mr Kendall said.

It comes after a Wonthaggi pub reduced to their capacity to allow unvaccinated people dine-in last week before the new rules took place.

The Caledonian Hotel owner David Peters said customer’s health choices shouldn’t be his concern.

“I don’t believe it’s my job as a publican to tell people what they should or shouldn’t do with their health,” he said.

“Nor do I believe we should discriminate based on what health decision people make.”

Although Island Whole Food sales were down by 40 per cent over the Melbourne Cup weekend, Mr Kendall said he would continue to operate as takeaway only for as long as possible.

“How long that lasts, I really don’t know,” he said.

“We can’t continue to take away more and more of people’s freedoms.

“It seems like something ridiculous to even discuss in Australia because there’s no logic to it.”

Mr Kendall said he hoped the vaccination economy was “a bit of a bluff from the government”.

“What is the vaccination number that we operate as a normal society again and don’t ostracise these people and basically force them to live in underground holes,” he said.

“At some point we have to start living together again.”

The Victorian Government was contacted for comment.

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