Palaszczuk clarifies her deputy on ‘second roadmap’ for business vax rules

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has clarified comments from her deputy about a “second roadmap” detailing restrictions businesses could face if they allowed those without the jab to enter once the 80 per cent vaccination target is hit.

Businesses and the LNP opposition have raised concerns about the lack of clarity in the reopening plan, announced on Monday, regarding how the community and economy would function under incentives for vaccinated-only venues.

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk have offered differing lines on the plan for businesses beyond an 80 per cent statewide vaccination rate.Credit: Matt Dennien

The plan flags additional restrictions for unvaccinated people after the 80 per cent trigger, or December 17 at the latest, with further details “to be confirmed”.

Asked on the first day of the state government’s week-long “vax-a-thon” on Tuesday about the next steps regarding masks and venue capacity limits, Deputy Premier Steven Miles told reporters in Mt Isa “those announcements are still to come”.

“So we’ve done a roadmap for what will change about our borders,” he said. “When we hit those thresholds there will be another roadmap about restrictions, and we’re just talking with businesses now about which of them might like to take up the opportunity to only have workers and patrons who are vaccinated at their venues and those venues will be subject to the least restrictions.”

Mr Miles said he hoped all restrictions could be lifted for venues that choose to only welcome people who were vaccinated, with those allowing people who were not likely to have some level of public health restrictions until a 90 per cent vaccination threshold was met.

But asked on Thursday about when such a second roadmap might arrive, Ms Palaszczuk said: “No, there’s no second roadmap”.

“So I’ve made this very clear over the last few days, that what people are doing ... businesses will make up their own minds,” she said from Mackay.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Miles said there would not be a “second roadmap” and apologised for any confusion his earlier comment had caused.

While Ms Palaszczuk told reporters businesses were “making the decision” to only allow vaccinated people into their venues in Victoria and NSW, both government’s plans explicitly state certain venues and businesses can only allow vaccinated patrons.

Under the planned 80 per cent double-dose reopening stage in Victoria, hospitality venues can open for seated service for limited numbers of vaccinated people only. Unvaccinated residents in NSW currently cannot go to businesses such as gyms, hairdressers or cinemas, or dine in at hospitality venues.

After the plan was announced, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland called for clear details about what any new directions meant, what businesses were and were not allowed to enforce, and how they could do that while protecting themselves.

“If refusing entry to unvaccinated customers is the right thing to do for the business and the wider economy’s COVID recovery, they need to be given resources to implement that change,” the chamber’s policy and advocacy manager Cherie Josephson said.

“But if it’s not in their best interests, they should be able to continue running their business.”

The Morning Edition newsletter is your guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.