No jab, no schooner: Sydney's powerful pub and club barons go all out to reopen to vaccinated Aussies from SEPTEMBER
- Sydney pub bosses want their doors open to vaccinated punters next month
- Bar barons Justin Hemmes and Craig Laundy are leading the push to reopen
- The hospitality industry met with the NSW government for talks on Thursday
- A vaccine passport has been suggested as a way to get customers back
Hospitality bosses say vaccinated Sydneysiders could be able to visit pubs and clubs from as early as next month.
'Opening to vaccinated staff and customers, I think maybe mid-to end September, hopefully,' pub owner and former MP Craig Laundy told the Today show on Friday.
Mr Laundy, who with his brother Stu runs the family's $500million Sydney hotel empire, said vaccines had proven successful in keeping people from becoming seriously ill from Covid.
'We need to start shifting the thinking - which the NSW State Government are starting to do - about what life looks like living with this virus with vaccinations available to all those in the community,' he said.
Sydneysiders could be able to enjoy getting back to the pub from September with the NSW government holding discussion with bar bosses
The hospitality industry has suggested vaccine passports could be a way to open their doors to patrons such as how QR codes are already in place (pictured: The bar at the Randwick Ritz)
In terms of how this would work in practice, Mr Laundy has suggested vaccine passports would be Australians' ticket into the pub.
'It's the way they are doing it in Europe. It's the easiest way for business to know that their staff, patrons and customers are vaccinated. People check in, we see they are vaccinated and they go to have a beer and a bite to eat.'
He added he is already being asked by customers who say they have had two vaccine doses when he is opening and adding the incentive of being able to go to the pub might push vaccine uptake even further.
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And Mr Laundy isn't the only pub boss pushing for this approach, with the NSW Government holding talks with the hospitality industry from Thursday.
Australian Hotels Association boss John Whelan and bar baron Justin Hemmes were also in attendance.
Hemmes is the chief of the Merivale Group which owns approximately 70 pubs, mainly across Sydney, and is estimated to be worth more than $1billion.
Three women enjoy a glass of wine over pizza (pictured) at a restaurant in Bondi Beach as restrictions were eased last year
Pubs like the Four Hands Hotel in Paddington (pictured) are sitting empty as the city endures a lockdown to control an outbreak of Covid
The NSW state government has ruled out a statewide lockdown after Covid spread to a number of country areas such as Dubbo, Armidale, and Walgett.
Additional military troops are likely to be called into virus-hit areas of NSW and may be used to help administer AstraZeneca vaccines.
NSW reported 345 new local COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday. At least 91 were in the community while infectious, while 138 remain under investigation.
Canberra is locked down for a week as health authorities race to stop the spread of coronavirus in Australia's capital.
A local man was out and about for four days with the virus and his infection is thought to be linked to Sydney's spiralling outbreak. Three of his close contacts have also contracted COVID-19.
The ACT is shut off from most of the country and NSW is imposing stay-at-home orders for anyone who has been in Canberra since August 5.
Pictured: Justin Hemmes and his girlfriend Madeline Holtznagel at the Million Dollar Beard Ball at the Ivy ballroom on May 13 this year. Hemmes owns The Ivy in Sydney
Both houses of parliament were already due to rise when the seven-day lockdown kicked in on Thursday evening.
The next sitting fortnight is due to begin on August 23.
Government minister Jane Hume said it was too early to make a call on whether the scheduled parliament sitting would go ahead.
'Many of us were staying here over the next week anyway because in order to go home they would have to quarantine,' she told the ABC.
Canberra's exposure sites are expected to grow significantly after the man in his 20s from the northern suburb of Gunghalin went from a nightclub to church and multiple shops between Sunday and Wednesday.
It's unclear how exactly he became infected, but it's highly likely to be with the Delta strain from Sydney.
