PRESIDENT UPDATE
The role of president of this wonderful association is something I am extremely excited to be sinking my teeth into. It is a true honour to be taking over from Paul Jubb, who throughout his entire tenure worked tirelessly to lobby for the hospitality industry and specifically the best interests for Tasmania on the national stage. Under Paul’s leadership the THA has grown to be the peak body representing hospitality businesses in our state and he has been instrumental in helping our sector grow. I look forward to continuing to work alongside ‘Jubby’ into the future as he remains on the board as our vice president. My aim is to build on the great work that Paul has achieved. I’m passionate about our industry, I have lived and worked in pubs all my life and as president I will ensure the THA continues to assist everyone improve their businesses. There is no doubting we are still in turbulent times as Covid disrupts our day to day lives and guiding us through this remains the number one priority. Things have improved from the nightmare two years of 2020 and 2021, but the fact is we are still clawing our way back to be set up for a sustainable future. I’m also pleased to announce Steve Old has agreed to another five years as our illustrious CEO. I’m not sure you will find a harder advocate for our industry and securing Steve to guide us forward is great news. We have seen recently that discussions of mask mandates have again surfaced. The position of the THA board is that returning to enforced mandates for our industry would be a massive backward step and a huge blow. Everyone understands Covid cases are rising quickly as we enter the depths of winter, and we know our businesses are not immune to the impacts of this. Staffing levels are in a consistent state of flux with people being required to isolate and take days off work.
We fully support and endorse everyone wearing a mask in any setting should they wish to do so, and in high- risk areas such as hospitals and aged-care facilities it makes complete sense to have additional measures in place. But our argument is when it comes to hospitality venues, it should be up to the individual to be vigilant and take responsibility for their own actions. An opinion piece from our WA friends and Bradley Woods last month in the media also took this stance. To quote from Bradley’s article, “mandated public health measures should be reserved for extraordinary situations, rather than being a default position” and “the community is looking to life beyond the pandemic and there is general acceptance that this requires replacing government intervention with personal responsibility.” I couldn’t agree with Bradley more. Despite suggestions in some circles in Tasmania, this isn’t about being controversial or trying to obtain special privileges. It is simply accepting that Covid is here, it doesn’t look like going anywhere soon and it is time for individuals to make their own decisions. Of course, the best protection against Covid is vaccination. I urge everyone who isn’t fully vaccinated to do so and if you are eligible for your boosters to book in for those. It is the best way to stay safe while still supporting our hospitality venues.
5 Tasmanian Hospitality Review August/July Edition
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