Liberals revolt against Gladys Berejiklian over mandatory vaccines for workers

Gladys Berejiklian faces a backlash from conservatives opposed to making vaccinations mandatory for tradies and construction workers.

Gladys Berejikliansays construction workers will need proof of vaccination before returning to work. Picture: Getty Images

Premier Gladys Berejiklian faces a backlash from conservative Liberals objecting to her move to make vaccinations a mandatory condition of employment for tradies and construction workers.

NSW Liberal backbencher Tanya Davies will introduce a private member’s bill that seeks to ban companies, or the state government, from forcing employees to get a Covid-19 jab. It has the support of cabinet minister Anthony Roberts and other Liberals.

It comes as businesses globally make vaccinations a requirement of employment, and CNN reportedly sacking three employees who came to work unvaccinated.

Ms Davies said the policy of compulsory vaccination was “an attack on my community and the people of NSW”.

“No person should lose their job if they do not get vaccinated,” Ms Davies said. “They may not want to be vaccinated for medical, ethical or religious reasons and we should be protecting people’s individual rights and circumstances.”

The conservative MP, whose electorate of Mulgoa is in western Sydney, said her private member’s bill reflected concern within her community and the Liberal Party.

Tanya Davies. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Ms Berejiklian has said construction workers will need proof of vaccination before returning to work, noting that there would be compliance tracking within the industry.

Mr Roberts, the NSW Counter Terrorism Minister, is backing Ms Davies’ bill and said that while he strongly supported vaccinations, they should not be mandatory.

“This is what the government has got to realise, and it goes back to Gallipoli and what we are as Australians; you can’t tell an Australian to do something unless you explain the reasons,” he said.

“It’s a slippery slope as soon as you start moving in this direction.

“The average punter will say no, don’t come into my land, my property, my family, my life and tell me what to do. Australians have a natural distrust of government and that’s healthy.”

Mr Roberts said the requirement for tradies and construction workers to get vaccinated affected many conservative Australians. “I’ve always held the belief that anyone who doesn’t get vaccinated for a disease is an idiot,” he said.

“However, I always believe that people have the right not to get vaccinated. The government has done a great job in NSW. But now in the last mile of this marathon, we really need to explain the importance of what we’re doing, not tell people what to do.”

Scott Morrison indicated on Friday that mandatory vaccination could breach discrimination laws, and that Australia’s policy remained that vaccines should be voluntary and free.

“Businesses have a legal obligation to keep their workplaces safe and to eliminate or minimise so far as ‘reasonably practicable’ the risk of exposure to Covid-19,” the Prime Minister said.

“Decisions to require Covid-19 vaccinations for employees will be a matter for individual business, taking into account their particular circumstances and their obligations under safety, anti-discrimination and privacy laws.”

Ms Davies’ said she believed this would be the case and said businesses could also face unfair-dismissal cases if they sacked workers who did not vaccinate.

“The people of western Sydney are being discriminated against, penalised and treated like second-class citizens based on their vaccination status,” she said.

Anthony Roberts

“I am leading the campaign to legislate that there can be no blanket mandate for Covid-19 vaccinations and to ensure nobody will be discriminated against based on their Covid-19 vaccination status.”

Liberal MP Nathaniel Smith, a conservative MP for Wollondilly, south of Sydney, said he would support the bill.

“I do not support mandatory vaccinations. I encourage people to get vaccinated and be safe, but I don’t believe it should be mandatory; if this is mandatory, what’s next?” he said.

“It’s not an argument against vaccination, it’s a philosophical position about what the government can force a person to do.”

The proposed legislation has garnered the support of some Labor MPs, including one from southwestern Sydney where the virus remains concentrated. They requested anonymity because they had not discussed the proposal with their party leadership.

“Anything mandatory, that’s quite serious. There’s broad implications that really haven’t been thrashed out,” they said. “Whilst the construction industry has shut down, the (case) numbers have ­increased. So where is the data to support this policy on the run?”