Cairns Hospital ICU beds: Council decides on mandate letter
Every Cairns councillor has had a say on Queensland’s impending strict vaccine mandates – including one who labelled anti-vaxxers selfish and ignorant.
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A CHILLING figure about the impending Covid-19 threat has been delivered by one of the city’s chief business identities.
Cairns Chamber of Commerce CEO Patricia O’Neill was given the microphone after a group of vaccine mandate protesters were allowed to speak during Wednesday’s Cairns Regional Council meeting.
Her words sucked the air out of the room – even among those who disagreed with the mandate.
“We have 16 ICU beds in Cairns Base Hospital,” she said.
“We have two up in the northern end of our region. Two ICU beds.
“We have a very vulnerable community, and I’m sorry, but you do the numbers.
“If Covid, or should I say when, Covid comes up the highway or through the airways and lands in this town, we will not cope.”
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the chambers while the council decided what, if any, mandate-related letter it should send the state government.
In the end, there was a unanimous vote to write a letter calling for the government to take “all steps necessary to remove and mitigate the risks for businesses when it comes to compliance”.
But some of the protesters were given the floor first.
Kinesiology practitioner Jo Wooler broke down in tears as she called for the state government to end a policy she said was tearing apart families and friends.
“We believe that regardless of their vaccination status, people should be allowed to choose how to live their own lives,” she said.
In the end, the letter has no statutory power over the state government.
However, it was deemed sufficiently strong for Division 9 councillor Brett Olds to drop his planned motion to write a letter calling for a rethink on the mandate.
“All the business community is asking for … they feel like they’ve got no one standing up for them now,” he told the room.
“All we’re doing is writing to the Premier.
“At least we can stand up and say, hey, we’re with our community on this one.”
Mayor Bob Manning said public health policy was not local government’s role and it had to follow whatever the state government set down.
“The science is unequivocal: vaccination is the best protection,”he said.
“84.2 per cent of the people in Cairns LGA are now at least partially vaccinated.
“We are now mere metres from the finish line.
WHAT THEY SAID
Bob Manning
We need to get Cairns and the greater region open for business, and to keep it that way.
Businesses cannot afford lockdowns, capacity restrictions and border closures.
We are entering a new era, and more than ever, our community as a whole will be greater than any one individual.
The science is unequivocal. Vaccination is the best form of protection. 84.2 per cent of people in the Cairns LGA are now at least partially vaccinated.
We are now mere metres from the finish line.
Brett Moller
I can think of nothing worse than a segregated society.
Unfortunately this pandemic has tipped our world upside down.
The Covid-19 vaccine and mandates are the responsibility of state government.
This is not the local government pointing fingers or passing the buck, this is the legal framework we’re working within.
Terry James
It’s clear the people of this country want their freedom back.
The Queensland Government needs to listen to their concerns and reconsider how this Covid plan is implemented.
Amy Eden
I’m concerned as a social worker, bound to ethics and values where every human has the right to self-determination.
I am very concerned that we have not learnt from the past.
In Brisbane, there is a street called Boundary St.
It stands today – blacks on one side, whites on the other.
And I’m sorry, but I wonder when Covid Crescent is coming to Cairns and this beautiful state of Queensland.
Kristy Vallely
I feel I do have very strong morals and I have a strong compass of what I think is right.
And what I think is right is to listen to the medical advice.
I personally haven’t been briefed like the state government representatives have.
They are making decisions based on the medical advice and I’m finding it very difficult to have … this being put upon my shoulders when it’s not in my role as a councillor.
Max O’Halloran
We’re whingeing up here, but you could be in Victoria and NSW and those places where you’ve really been jammed.
All we can do is wave the flag.
We’re doing it tough enough.
Rhonda Coghlan
I have a daughter in Melbourne. They were in lockdown for over 200 days.
She’d had to lay off 20 per cent of her staff – she’s in childcare and they can no longer work there.
I feel for all of those people but I, too, want to see Cairns at the end of this.
I want to see us move on.
I don’t like to see businesses hurting and I don’t like to see segregation (but) I wouldn’t like to be responsible for making the decisions on people’s health.
Cathy Zeiger
I don’t see anybody here as being untouched by this.
I’ve missed the birth of two grandchildren.
There have been people I know who have passed away, and I know everyone here has been touched in some way.
We’ve got people in the community, they’re very fearful of what’s going to happen because there’s a lot of this mixed messaging.
I would like to see businesses legally have the choice as to whether they are open to (vaccinated and unvaccinated people).
Brett Olds
All the business community is asking for … they feel like they’ve got no one standing up for them now.
All we’re doing is writing to the Premier.
We can’t support segregation and discrimination.
At least we can stand up and say, hey, we’re with our community on this one.
PYNE HAS A JAB
Division 2 councillor Rob Pyne has let loose a stinging rebuke of anti-vaxxers and mandate protesters and the theories they espouse.
“The most worrying phrase in the English language is, ‘I did my own research’,” he said.
“If we’ve got a plan for a bridge that needs to be built … would any of us say, oh jeez, let’s do our own research on this?
“Why you would not listen to medical experts but go online and listen to some kook is beyond me."
Cr Pyne said the anti-vax movement went hand-in-hand with selfishness.
“Over six million people around the world have died of Covid … do their lives not matter?” he asked.
“They’re overwhelmingly people with disabilities … the elderly, they’re the vulnerable people in our community.
“To stand up there and say, ‘Well I’m right, Jack, I’ve got the right to choose’ … well you breathe the same air as the rest of us, my friend – and vulnerable people die from this disease.”
Cr Pyne received multiple jeers from the crowd during his speech.
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