Councils may help enforce new rules

QUEENSLAND councils could be given bolstered powers to slap badly behaving restaurants with fines if they do not comply with COVID-19 restrictions.

The State Government is in talks with local government about their possible involvement in enforcing the new rules ahead of the reopening of restaurants and cafes later this week.

This could include enforcing rules about the number of people who will be allowed to dine in restaurants, with the initial limit to be 10 when restrictions begin easing.

The move, if it goes ahead, would also mean that councils would be saddled with extra costs, according to the Local Government Association of Queensland.

A State Government spokeswoman confirmed it was in discussions with the LGAQ about the “possible involvement” of councils.

“The details are being worked through,” she said.

LGAQ chief executive Greg Hallam said the potential new role for councils to supervise social distancing in 30,000 restaurants, cafes and nail salons would come at “significant additional cost” to them, as much of the work would be done out of hours and on weekends.

“But local government will play its part in restarting the economy,” Mr Hallam said.

The possible move would most affect big councils in the state’s southeast, as well as big regional cities like Cairns and Townsville, where most of the businesses are located.

Police have so far been largely responsible for enforcing the restrictions, and have issued about 1938 fines.