Cafe owner: ‘Segregation breaks our hearts’

A cafe has been forced to provide takeaway meals only after its co-owner and her daughter were arrested for allegedly breaching Western Australia’s Covid-19 laws, but anti-vaxxers have vowed to support the business.

Jodie Jardine, 51, and her 22-year-old daughter were arrested on Monday night after police barged into Topolinis Caffe in Warwick.

Police Commissioner Chris Dawson revealed on Wednesday that officers had first attended the Italian eatery about 1pm on Monday.

“The store was closed for business and there were no other staff,” he told 6PR radio.

“The people present, we are alleging, stated they would not comply with the law.

“The requirements of both the Emergency Management and the Public Health Acts were clearly explained – that staff have to be vaccinated and masks worn.”

Mr Dawson said officers further informed them that an investigation would begin if they did not comply.

Police returned about 5.50pm that evening, finding staff and customers present at the eatery, but officers were refused entry.

“Police had lawful authority to go in but they didn’t want police in there,” Mr Dawson said.

“They refused to provide proof of vaccination or exemptions, so what we’re alleging is after multiple requests for explanations and warnings, the persons were charged, so we arrested two people.

“They continued to, we’re alleging, refuse to wear masks when in police custody and the others were ordered to leave the premises. They complied with that.

“One staff member, we are saying, did provide proof of vaccination without incident.”

The cafe was open again on Tuesday night but, in a subsequent social media post, announced a change to their service.

“To all our beautiful customers, friends and family, the support that we have received today has been amazing,” they wrote.

“The support we received tonight from the customers who could sit in the restaurant and the customers that sat out the front and got take away was awesome.

“Segregation breaks our hearts so from tomorrow, for the time being, we will move to takeaways and deliveries up to 5km.

“This won’t be for long, we promise. Again, thank you all so much. We love you all.”

Hundreds of people have backed the business, including one who wrote: “I fully support you and am dismayed at your plight … you are not alone in your fight.”

But not everyone was on-board with their controversial stance.

“It’s the law. If you do the crime, you pay the fine or do the time … you should be ashamed of not being responsible and thinking of others,” one person commented.

The commissioner was also asked about an incident at St Bernadette’s Catholic Church in Mount Hawthorn last week when police interrupted a mass and caught four people not wearing a mask, while a fifth parishioner was found to have an exemption.

Mr Dawson said he was “very satisfied” that police did what they could in a “discreet and sensitive manner” at the church.

“They did their job, but I also appreciate that this is a highly sensitive matter for the community because places of worship, of course, are not places that ordinarily you would want to have to see police being asked to go there,” he said.

“But it was not an initiation by us, it was as a result of multiple complaints.”

Mr Dawson also sought to clarify what he called misinformation online.

“There’s a lot of misinformation, as we’ve had through the last two years through social media – mainly by anti-vaxxers – so I’ll just be blunt about that,” he said.

“The complaint was that the priest was wearing a mask in the church, but no one else was being told to put them on.”

Mr Dawson said there were up to 40 people in the church.

“Police went and discreetly spoke to the secretary outside of the worship area, to the side of the altar,” he said.

“They were given an opportunity to speak. The priest did not want to instruct his parishioners to wear masks and asked police to do that.”

Mr Dawson said the mask-wearing requirements were “politely explained” and officers left minutes later. No charges were laid.

“I appreciate it’s sensitive, but we can’t be discriminatory in saying we are going to enforce it in nightclubs but not at churches,” he said.

“I back my officers fully on this because they can’t simply say ‘I’m not going to attend to a complaint because it’s going to raise criticism’. So they did their job, and they did it right.”

At the time, Catholic Archbishop of Perth Timothy Costelloe said in a statement that it was “highly regrettable that the police felt themselves obliged to intervene during a religious service”.

“The celebration of the Eucharist is the central act of Catholic worship and is sacred,” he said.

“It is my hope that other ways can be found to deal with this delicate issue in future.

“It is a matter of regret to me that the police were placed in a position which led them to take the action they did. They should not have been placed in this position.”