KSS October eKourier

illegal to force or coerce a person to have a medical procedure. No other vaccine in Australia is mandatory. It is heartening to see that the back-door pressure has clearly made many people very angry. The establishment and chattering classes are rationalising the reason for mandatory or coerced vaccination as a necessity to avoid a burden on the health system as the unvaccinated are more likely to become sick. It’s true they are more likely to get sick but it’s a weak argument. By that measure, we should prohibit all risky activity – surfing, skiing, horse riding, cycling, eating junk food, drinking alcohol, sun baking, and so on. Our business holds the values of freedom, choice and personal responsibility with high regard. Getting vaccinated is a good choice. My whole family is vaccinated. Equally, people are entitled to take the risk, to wait or not get vaccinated. It appears our Teams have embraced vaccination too with a strong uptake. Our business will not be mandating vaccina- tion. This is a private choice, with private consequences. We will not pressure our Team or our customers to be vaccinated. We have also now registered our business with Open For All. This is a movement that has started in the UK that opposes segregation and opposes vaccine passports. It pushes-back on the authori- tarian vaccination coercion through passports. We are not anti-vax, but we are anti-vax passport. We may be in a minority with this, but it is not unfamiliar to us to run contrarian to the masses. Another concern, vax passports also offer a pathway to further government oversight and surveillance of peoples lives. Scope creep could easily occur to enable authorities to check and monitor more of our activities. Open For All is a free market solution to vaccination preference. To learn more, go to: www.openforall.com.au. The NZ version is on its way too.

OPEN FOR ALL

MESSAGE FROM SAM Spring 2021 and we are opening another chapter in the Covid-19 Pandemic story.

T he arrival of Covid was inevitable. Elimination of the virus was nice for a while but it was only temporary. The politics of zero Covid was very rewarding for politicians, but the cost and collateral damage was largely ignored. Fear has been used to scare people in to compliance. Strangely many people suddenly expect a world of zero risk and have happily surren- dered freedoms. A plethora of rules and heavy fines have been struck on us. Unscientific controls imposed and extraordinary powers granted to the Police. Large sections of the community have acquiesced and the “Karens” found their moment. For someone who cherishes freedom, much of this has been alarming and saddening. It’s apparent Australians are not the laid-back, anti-authoritarian larrikins we think we are. Actually many are

more like descendants of wardens than convicts.

In NSW and Victoria, since our brief elimination, the re-arrival of Covid in the community was never going to be at a time of our choosing. It was inevitable and always going to be messy. Queens- land, South Australia and New Zealand are holding out. Deferring the inevitable. At this time, only NSW and Victoria have crossed the Rubicon and decided to go forward in a ‘living with it’ mindset. But the next hysteria has emerged - vaccination. The push is on by the political leaders and the media. Vaccinate or perish. Vaccinate or miss out on life and fun. Prove your vaccination to have some simple life pleasures. Regret- tably, vaccine passports seem to be inevitable. The outcome is to make vaccination pseudo-mandatory. It is

Sam Kennard Chief Executive Officer

3 Kennards Kourier Oct 2021