A MISSION Beach pub has been forced to close its doors at the request of police on the weekend for “failing to comply” with health orders which prohibit serving unvaccinated patrons; a no-no in the Queensland Government’s Covid-19 rulebook.

Bob Katter, Federal Member for Kennedy, said the local pub was an essential service and should remain open to the community.

“The extreme nature of this ALP Government and how it is destroying essential services is unacceptable. A lot of people may not consider a hotel an essential service, but it is.

“If you want to fine people, alright then, but by closing the tavern you punish the whole community,” Mr Katter said.

“It shows a towering ignorance by the Government, because for me personally, and thousands of others like me, I’ve done most of my investments in the pub. I bought and sold cattle in the pubs, I bought 500,000-acre cattle holdings in the pub one night, I hired and fired all my contractors when I was working in the mines in the pubs, and I learned who the local contractors were in the pubs.

“For whatever reason they may have, going to the local pub is, for some people, the single thing that keeps them going. The social interactions that come from having a drink at the pub can’t be underestimated, particularly in regional towns.

“So, reopen the Mission Beach tavern or there will be hell to pay,” Mr Katter warned.

State Member for Hill, Shane Knuth, said that it was time Australia ended the vaccine mandate and followed the lead of other countries, like the United Kingdom.

“Other countries across the world are dismantling the vaccine mandate, and there are more important things in life for our essential workers to be doing rather than targeting pubs and drinkers.

“Police want to be out there catching criminals, focusing on the hot priorities.

“Right at this present moment, we have a 90 per cent vaccination rate across Queensland.

“We have the sick, the disabled, the frail and the elderly that cannot get the appropriate care because of the mandate, and yet the Government have got police out there targeting pubs.

“The goal posts keep shifting. One minute the virus is hunting the unvaccinated, then it is hunting those that don’t have their third jab and now they are telling us that they will have a fourth jab ready by the end of the year. So, when is it going to stop? Lives are being ruined,” Mr Knuth said.

Jeanette Lamb, Partner and Manager of the Mission Beach Tavern said, “This is a small community. Our loyal customers have been with us for more than seven years and we aren’t about to turn our backs on them. What they are doing to us is bullying and out of control.

“Eight police officers came into our venue on Australia Day, mid-morning and flexed their muscles. They asked everyone for their proof of vaccination and drove out many of our patrons. They fined one of our staff for failing to produce a proof of vaccination and asked another two to leave, also threatening them with being arrested or fined if they returned.

“Open us back up! It is the wider community that is getting affected by this. We are an essential service especially for the mental health of our community. People come into the Tavern for a bit of R&R and it is a social outlet for them, so open us back up.

“The Government are mandating us to be vaccinated but they are now punishing both the vaccinated and unvaccinated and the biggest pain in all of this is that we are not able to provide an income for 17 people who have now lost their jobs,” Ms Lamb said.

“There are other venues in town who need us to be open for the welfare of their businesses. The caravan park and motel directly beside and behind us have both said that people won’t come to their place when they tell them the pub is closed, as that is one of the reasons they book their venues because we are in walking distance for them.

“We are a struggling small community and as a lot of our customers have said to us ‘you are the hub of the town.’”