COVID-19 vaccination
Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (11:55): My question is for the Minister for Small Business. Melbourne is once again about to host the grand prix, which attracts large numbers of international tourists, something that I imagine small business owners in the city would be very excited about. However, the government has refused to remove the vaccine passport system prior to the event happening. The Victorian coronavirus website offers official advice to tourists that they can use a copy of a paper or digital certificate issued by an overseas government authority. They will need this to get into most venues. Minister, what information has the government provided everyday small businesses about how to know if a piece of paper or image of a digital certificate a tourist presents is legitimate proof of vaccination or just a random document they made themselves?
Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Resources) (11:55): I thank Mr Limbrick for his question. I reckon he is right about small businesses through Melbourne being very excited about the imminent hosting of the Formula One Grand Prix. As is the case when this event is about to occur—the same with the tennis—you can really feel the energy and the excitement building around Melbourne. On the specifics around vaccine mandates, as Mr Limbrick well knows, these are matters for the health minister, and indeed for access, for entry—
Members interjecting.
Ms PULFORD: Could we just have a little shoosh? For entry to the country, these are matters for the commonwealth government. As I mentioned in the house a couple of weeks ago, I recently returned from the United States, where—what you were describing—there was an identical arrangement where people were showing their vaccine certificate if they did not have the local one, as we did not in that circumstance. You could take your bit of paper or you could take your international vaccine proof, also able to be dropped into a phone app, as we can when we now travel, as people are increasingly starting to do.
In terms of advice to small business on recognising an international certificate, I will take that part of your question on notice and provide you with some further detail about what we are doing to make sure that small businesses, particularly those that are still required to check vaccination status, their staff and their patrons can be as safe as possible in the circumstances. I will come back to you with some further information about what we are doing.
Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (11:57): I thank the minister for her answer. Particularly I have heard some concerns from small businesses about foreign government issued certificates that are not in English and therefore the small business might not be able to recognise them. With this in mind, has there been any communication to small business owners that when asking tourists for vaccine passports they should be able to accept them without fear of getting fines from the government? There are some concerns that small businesses might be receiving a fine for allowing someone in with a certificate they are not sure is valid.
Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Resources) (11:58): I think that is a really good question and an important question, and I would certainly want to reassure Victorian small business operators that what they need to do, as has always been the case, and what is expected is best endeavours. We do not expect small business operators to be able to ascertain whether a proof-of-vaccine certificate from 10 000 miles away has been bodgied up on the computer at home or whether it is real. But I think what small business operators can have is a high level of confidence that people have only been permitted to enter the country if they have met the very high standards that Australia is still applying for entry to the country. So I think you are talking about people being concerned about a really improbable scenario, because it is actually the point at which you board the plane where you really have to demonstrate a very, very high level of proof. Those are administered by airlines in a practical sense but settled between national governments.