EXCITING AND NEW! FOR ONE WEEK ONLY The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 36 #18 • October 13, 2021 • www.echo.net.au
NSW govt’s Health Order lacks clarity
‘Without a sense of Libraries close caring, there can be no owing to safety sense of community’ concerns Anthony J. D’Angelo
Hans Lovejoy Confused and anxious when it comes to ambiguous and complex COVID-19 laws? You are not alone. Local businesses have expressed confusion and resistance being expected to act as defacto police and ascertain the vaccination status of people on their premises. The Public Health (COVID-19 General) Order 2021 is 53 pages long, and outlines how a wide range of businesses – and individuals – should self-regulate and operate within COVID-19 rules. Yet there is no clarification in the order regarding the ‘reasonable steps’ a business owner must take to ensure that an unvaccinated adult is not on the premises. ‘Reasonable steps’ is mentioned within sections 5.3 of the order (COVID Safe Check-in), 2.12 (certain outdoor events) and section 2.19 (Premises closed to unvaccinated adults). Retired local magistrate, David Heilpern, told The Echo that the term ‘reasonable steps’ will eventually need to be determined by the courts. He said, ‘The government appears to be relying on the posters that they have issued, which business owners can download to go up in shop windows’. Mr Heilpern added that courts would likely decide on the ‘reasonable steps’ definition depending on the size of business. The Echo asked local Detective Chief Inspector, Matt Kehoe, if police will be checking people’s vaccination status on behalf of businesses that are required to, if
Public libraries across the entire Richmond-Tweed network will be closed until at least December, owing to COVID-19 safety and staff abuse concerns. Patrons will be able to borrow books online and collect them from the library door, but there will be no shelf browsing, and all other library services such as internet and printing will be unavailable. Librarians have told The Echo that a key factor in the closure was the fear that they will experience an increase in abuse from patrons if they try and police the new COVID Safe rules that came into force this week.
Received abuse This week is Carers Week, which celebrates and supports carers of all people, young and old. Unfortunately, given the health restrictions, carers often face isolation, loneliness, and poor mental health. ‘A carer is generally a family member or loved one that provides unpaid support to a care recipient’, explained Emma White, care co-ordinator at Byron Shire Respite Service. This is the case for Byron Shire resident, Kristina, who cares for her mother Alma, who has dementia. Kristina says her situation is not as difficult as some. ‘I feel sorry for carers who don’t have someone as easy I have. My mother is not an angry person’. For more info about dementia, or how to support carers, visit www.discrimination.dementia.org.au. Full story online. Photo Jeff Dawson there’s an issue from the business owner’s point of view, such as a disruptive customer? And if so, will this mean extra/increased policing numbers for the area? He replied, ‘There are no extra police numbers to our district’.
No proactive policing ‘At present, police will not be proactively checking vaccination status of patrons and business owners. That being said, if we are called for Crime Stoppers reports or 000 calls, then there is
Readers beware: All manner of opinions contained within ▶ p1–48
a responsibility for police to investigate and ask those questions. I would encourage people to comply with the current Public Health Order’. ‘Please be respectful to business owners trying to navigate these challenging times and be kind to each other’. Meanwhile, the bipartisan Cross Border Taskforce, comprising Members from both the NSW and Qld Parliaments, has called on the NSW Premier to delay double vaccination requirements until the end
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of October in regional areas. While the Order currently says a fully vaccinated person has to have two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to enter certain premises, the Premier announced on October 7 that regional workers (not customers) will only require one shot. The Taskforce wrote to the new premier about their concerns for the region, and asked for an outline of his plans for this region, ‘so we are able to relay this to our communities and alleviate any unnecessary growing anxiety around this issue’.
David’s really good article ▶ p13
‘We’ve already received a lot of abuse from patrons over things like masks’, one librarian said. ‘There are concerns that that will increase if we have to ask everyone who comes through the door for proof that they have been double vaccinated. The closure will be there until December at least, and then we’ll see’. In an official statement, library management said the decision was based on ‘a balance between meeting the requirements of the Public Health (COVID-19 General) Order 2021 commencing October 11, and delivering quality services to library members’. ‘It was a difficult decision to make, but one that provided the most equitable service to our community,’ Acting Regional Library Manager Lucy Kinsley said. ‘This decision will be reviewed if the NSW Public Health Order is changed.’
COVID-19 induced There’s magic in ventilator horror Murwillumbah ▶ p22 ▶ p23