New South Wales Deputy Premier John Barilaro has warned businesses will be faced with “significant fines” if they’re found to be serving unvaccinated customers when the state, in part, emerges from lockdown next month.
Venues the government has deemed “non-essential,” such as restaurants, cafes, pubs, hair salons, cinemas, and gyms will be permitted to reopen in mid-October, once vaccination rates hit 70 percent coverage, but entry will only be granted to double-jabbed patrons.
All customers will be required to prove their vaccination status before entering through a QR code when checking in on the government’s Service NSW app.
In August, Premier Gladys Berejiklian first announced the introduction of a vaccine certificate app that would be tied to the current QR code check-in system.
“We are asking industry to dust off their COVID safety plans, get the QR Codes in check, and we’re also working on an app in NSW that will allow you to sign into a venue but also have proof of your vax all in one to make it as simple as possible,” she said.
The Deputy Premier warned that when the state re-opens to the vaccinated, businesses found to be serving unvaccinated customers will face “significant fines.”
“There will be a poster on the front window to say the business is vaccinated… and we will make sure it is very visible for the public,” Barilaro said.
Warning, “there will be significant fines for breaches.”
According to the Daily Telegraph, the measure also applies to employers with unvaccinated staff. Business owners and their employees will also be required to register proof they have been vaccinated before reopening their doors.
The aim, according to the state Premier, is to ensure only vaccinated people are allowed to interact with each other post-lockdown.
“You have been warned,” Berejiklian threatened. “If you’re not vaccinated, come forward and get the vaccine, otherwise you won’t be able to participate in the many freedoms that people have at 70% vaccination.”
The Premier said, “When we do open up at 70 percent double-dosed, anyone who interacts with each other will be completely vaccinated.”
NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham described the introduction of vaccine passports as “a massive invasion of privacy,” noting that the more than 4,000 pedophiles on the state’s child protection register aren’t required this level of monitoring.
But you have rights and there are ways of resisting, according to a video Latham recently posted to Facebook.
In the short clip, Latham said: “What I’m recommending to everyone is please do what I’ve done today. Go to the Australian Immunisation Register, get this form, it’s called Ceasing Correspondence and Release of Information…
“If you fill it out, and lodge it with the Federal Government, you’ve got the right, the legal right, under the laws of the Commonwealth not to have any third-party access your vaccination status. Not even your doctor,” Latham said.
“So, what I’m planning to do, if there’s a police officer asking for my papers at a cafe, is to say, ‘No, I have a legal right under the Commonwealth law, which overrides New South Wales law, not to have to show anyone my vaccination status.’ It’s private, health-sensitive information that doesn’t have to be shared.”
The Australian Immunisation Register – Ceasing Correspondence and Release of Information Form can be found here.
