(LifeSiteNews) — An Australian state’s police commissioner has balked at enforcing his government’s vaccine passport requirement, saying his officers would not stop people in public venues and force them to show proof of having gotten the required double-dose of the COVID-19 drug.
The state’s health minister, however, said if the law requires double-vaccination, officers will “have no choice” except to enforce it.
New South Wales (NSW) Commissioner Mick Fuller, who has previously deployed massive law enforcement muscle against anti-lockdown protestors during the pandemic response, said it’s not the “role of police” to proactively stop Australians and demand they show proof of vaccination.
“The role of police in terms of vaccine passports, we will not be walking through restaurants, cafes and pubs checking if people are double vaccinated,” Commissioner Fuller said, according to the Guardian.
However, Fuller added that if business owners call for police to help them enforce the passport requirement, they will “respond to assist.”
The police commissioner of Australia’s most populous state told Sydney radio, “the police will assist restaurant owners and shop owners if they are refusing entry to someone — we’ll certainly respond to assist those people.”
As reported by the Daily Mail, Fuller asked Aussies returning to shopping and entertainment to ‘keep calm,’ noting that police expect that some businesses will call for law enforcement assistance to turn away the unvaccinated or those who refuse to show proof of their shots.
‘We are anticipating there will be businesses calling us for assistance on the right to refuse someone entry to their premises,’ he said.
The police commissioner’s remarks indicating a more or less hands-off approach by law enforcement officers in the state were challenged by NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard, who said that when vaccine passports become law, police officers will be expected and required to enforce them.
As reported by Rebel News, Hazzard said that “[i]f the law says you have to be double vaccinated, then, of course, the police will enforce that, they have no choice but to enforce that.”
It is unclear how diligently the state vaccination mandate will be enforced by businesses.