Thursday, 28 October 2021

 Mr NORTHE (Morwell) (09:56): I want to refer to the absolute chaos and confusion that businesses in my community are experiencing at present. The vaccinated and unvaccinated classes of persons the government has created are once again being pushed onto the business sector to contend with. Businesses whose anxiety levels are already extraordinarily high are now tipping over as they try to understand and implement the government’s rules, which seem to change every second day. The mixed messages and different advice being espoused by different ministers, different industry groups and different media outlets raise questions such as: ‘What are the rules for our workers who are fully vaccinated, single-dose vaccinated or not vaccinated at all? And what does it mean if our customers are not vaccinated, partially vaccinated or fully vaccinated? Can I still operate under the old rules, or do I have to work under the new rules?’. These are legitimate, valid and simple questions, yet it seems the answers are far more complex and not readily available.

I apologise to Jackson Hitchcock in the Minister for Health’s office, who has been incredibly helpful, but in my office I should not have to ask him a question every 5 minutes on behalf of businesses in my electorate. One major issue is the government seems unwilling or unable to update their websites until after the new rules are actually in effect, but this is of little help to those trying to understand what the rules mean for their employees and customers right now so they can at least plan for changes. Put simply, the relevant information should be publicly available before the rules come into effect. The confusion is palpable, and I am sorry, but this is something the government needs to fix. This is taking an emotional and financial toll on businesses everywhere.