‘Totalitarian’: Retail Chain Owner Lambasts State’s New Restrictions on Unvaccinated

Protesters hold up signs as they march across Victoria Bridge during a rally against a mandatory Covid-19 vaccine in Brisbane, Australia, on Oct. 1, 2021. (Dan Peled/Getty Images)

A retail chain owner says he will not mandate the COVID-19 vaccine to his staff or exclude customers based on their vaccination status—calling newly announced health restrictions in Queensland “preposterous and ridiculous.”

Heath Goddard, co-founder and CEO of national homewares and bedding retailer, Pillow Talk, was critical of the lack of transparency around medical advice underpinning the use of tough public health restrictions to deal with the pandemic.

“Until it’s tested in court, and we’ve got decent judges to attest and listen to the debate. We have a problem. We have a nation that is currently being ransacked from within,” he told The Epoch Times.

Heath Goddard, co-founder and CEO of Australian national retail chain, Pillow Talk. (Supplied)

“I can’t pick on Premier Palaszczuk’s one-off announcement yesterday—the whole thing from start to finish has been a complete and utter disaster,” he said.

Earlier this week, Queensland’s state leader, Annastacia Palaszczuk, announced that from Dec. 17—or once 80 percent of the local population is vaccinated—a raft of new restrictions would kick-in for unvaccinated residents.

The approach follows in the footsteps of other Australian state leaders who are pushing to increase vaccination rates by incentivising “freedoms” to those willing to take the jab.

In Queensland, however, no restrictions are currently in place with residents—jabbed or un-jabbed—allowed to mingle freely.

However, once the milestones are reached, only vaccinated Queenslanders will be allowed to enter a range of businesses and venues, including restaurants, clubs, cafes, and stadiums—the rest will be locked out.

An end date to all restrictions has yet to be announced.

Award-winning Brisbane café owner, Phillip Di Bella, has already indicated he will not be enforcing any restriction against unvaccinated individuals, saying “the Coffee Commune will not discriminate.”

While all customers are currently allowed to enter retail outlets, Goddard said he was on the same wavelength as Di Bella.

“Anyone is welcome to come into my business. vaccinated or unvaccinated. I certainly have not mandated any person in my company to get vaccinated—can not do it. I know the dangers there,” he said.

“But I can’t talk to the premier; I can’t talk to the health minister or anyone else. They won’t talk to you. There’s no discussion. It’s just: ‘We’re going to do this.’ It’s a totalitarian direction,” he added.

“Since when do we have totalitarian directions in Australia? We’ve got them now. We’re worse than (communist) Czechoslovakia.  It’s ridiculous, and yet people are going along with it. Why?” he said, noting similar observations had been made to him by Eastern Europeans living in Australia.