Wednesday, 22 February 2023

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:49): Coles supermarkets still have vaccine requirements for employees despite there being no requirement from the government to still do so. Many Coles employees are young people who might not want the jab, considering they are at low risk from COVID symptoms but in the age group most at risk of myocarditis and other complications. This policy not only excludes them from the workforce, it has no doubt led to unemployment and hardship in many families.

Coles use a lot of talk in their corporate presentations about empowering everyone and making Coles a place where everyone feels like they belong, but I urge the new CEO of Coles to prove it by ending these unscientific and unethical requirements that breach the human right to medical privacy. As a private company, it is Coles’s right to make this choice. However, as private citizens it can be our choice not to do business with Coles until they remove the mandates.