Scott Morrison has led calls for Queensland's upcoming vaccine mandate to be scrapped, arguing those who haven't received a jab should be able to enter a cafe for a coffee.
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The prime minister publicly attacked the upcoming state-imposed mandate, labelling the move to bar the unvaccinated from entering retail and hospitality venues as an overreach.
Queensland will institute the ban once 80 per cent of residents in the state are fully vaccinated.
"They should be able to go and get a cup of coffee in Brisbane when you're over 80 per cent, regardless of whether you've had the vaccine or not," Mr Morrison told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
"As we get above 80 per cent in particular, when the scientific advice shows us and the research shows us, that means Australians can have their lives back."
Mr Morrison said the only mandates he supported were ones for healthcare workers.
The criticism was rebuked by Queensland's Deputy Premier Steven Miles, who accused Mr Morrison of stoking division.
"(The prime minister) has chosen instead to undermine the vaccine mandates that have successfully accelerated vaccine take up here in Queensland for the sake of his own cynical political interests," he told Queensland parliament.
(Queenslanders) do not deserve to be undermined by a PM more interested in currying favour with coffee baron donors and lunatic backbenchers than the health and the jobs of Queenslanders."
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce also backed calls to scrap Queensland's mandate.
However, he did not criticise the current vaccine mandate imposed in NSW, which will only be lifted once the state hits 95 per cent fully vaccinated.
"(Steven Miles) should be talking to people in the middle of Queensland about why he is ... going to bring a sort of two-state solution into Queensland," he told Sky News on Thursday.
Mr Joyce denied the government attacks on the vaccine mandate was an effort to placate anti-vaccine coalition members.
Liberal senators Alex Antic and Gerard Rennick have indicated they would withhold their vote from the government as a protest against vaccine mandates.
The national double-dose vaccination rate for over-16s stands at 84.2 per cent, while 91.1 per cent have had their first dose.
More than 128,000 vaccines were administered nationally on Wednesday.
The government has extended biosecurity measures in the Northern Territory as the Top End deals with a COVID surge.
The measures will prevent anyone from entering or exiting the remote community of Robinson River, which has been at the centre of the outbreak, until November 22.
The territory recorded no new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, while there were 262 cases and three deaths in NSW and 25 cases in the ACT.
Victoria registered 1007 new infections and 12 deaths, ahead of the easing of restrictions that will allow for dancing at nightclubs and no density limits for cafes and restaurants.
Australian Associated Press
