On Wednesday 24th November, Banana Shire Councillors met to discuss the current Covid-19 mandates that are currently being imposed by the QLD State Government for residents of Queensland. Banana Shire Council’s position is as follows:

• All community members should be able to choose whether or not to get vaccinated for COVID-19 respecting their individual health circumstances and their personal views without undue pressure or coercion.

• Where it is safe for residents to get vaccinated for COVID-19, Council recommends they get vaccinated. Community members should get advice from their General Practitioner.

• Excluding staff and patrons from workplaces and venues based on their vaccination status will restrict local businesses capacity to recover from the economic challenges presented by COVID-19 by exacerbating existing staff shortages and excluding patrons from local venues.

• Administration of the proposed restrictions adds an unreasonable and unjust burden on local businesses at a time when they should be focusing on recovering from economic challenges that COVID-19 has presented.

• Council will write to the State Government to advise that Council has been inundated with emails from our local residents and business owners expressing their concerns surrounding the proposed restrictions of unvaccinated people from the 17th December 2021. Council interprets this as a clear indication that Banana Shire Business owners and people of goodwill express a strong and unreserved concern about the impacts the proposed restrictions will have on business owners, patrons and employees.