Maryborough business owner Chris Black is leading a movement against the State Government’s vaccination mandate

Protests are drawing big crowds and online campaigns gaining momentum on the Fraser Coast as business owners lead the fight against the State Government’s plan to restrict certain activities for the unvaccinated.

Prominent business owner Chris Black was at the helm of Maryborough’s first and well-attended freedom rally on Sunday, when hundreds of anti-mandate ralliers met outside the Town Hall.

The group gathered ahead of the impending State Government vaccination mandate, restricting unvaccinated people from numerous activities including attending pubs and cafes, which comes into effect on December 17 or when Queensland reaches an 80 per cent double-dose vaccination threshold (whichever comes first).

Mr Black, well-known in the community as owner of Maryborough Fitness Health and Bodyworks and Gym Bean Espresso Health Café with wife Tina, said he led the rally to bring the business community together and to stand up for the rights of Australians.

Chris Black is the owner of Maryborough Fitness.

He told the crowd on Sunday that the focus was not on dividing a vaccinated and non-vaccinated community, but on uniting for freedom of choice.

“This thing is much bigger than vaxxed and non-vaxxed – it’s about losing our choices and freedom,” he said.

“My angle on all of this is that everyone should stick together and come together to actually fight for their freedom and rights of the future.

“We are non-vaxxed but we are not anti-vax. We are not discriminate with anyone in our business.”

A 'Freedom Rally' was held at Maryborough's Town Hall green at the weekend.

The long-term Maryborough gym owner said while the December 17 mandate did not affect his business, he felt a responsibility to stand up for those who would be affected.

“Even though we’re allowed to trade there are a lot of businesses on December 17 that will not be able to.

“We are fighting for those people in our community – we are not going to sit back just because we are not mandated at the moment.”

He said if it came to the point where he couldn’t operate his business due to himself or his gym members not being vaccinated, he would have to shut his doors to 2000 people.

“We won’t stand there and only let vaccinated people through the door – we’re not going to discriminate against those people that have supported us for 13 years,” he said.

Mr Black, who will be speaking at a Fraser Coast Regional Council meeting on Wednesday and leading a second freedom rally outside Maryborough Town Hall next Sunday, said he wanted to put pressure on local and state government to change the mandate.

Maryborough's Chris Black and wife Tina Black believe businesses should not have to turn away the unvaccinated.

“I think it is possible to reverse all of this – the numbers in Australia are rapidly rising, with one million people marching on the weekend.

“We are fighting for our freedom of choice to remain a democracy.”

As of Monday November 22, 73.3 per cent of eligible Queenslanders were fully vaccinated and 84.6 per cent had a first dose.

A similar rally attracted thousands in Bundaberg on the weekend while another rally is also planned for Hervey Bay’s Freedom Park this coming weekend.

Originally published as Maryborough business owner Chris Black is leading a movement against the State Government’s vaccination mandate