Some Australians say a public holiday to mourn is unwelcome
- Small business owners and casual workers say the day of mourning will be tough when they are already feeling cost of living pressures.
- Doctors say some hospital departments may be forced to close, requiring thousands of procedures to be rescheduled.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended holding a national public holiday to pay respect to the late Queen Elizabeth II, calling for "common sense" to prevail on the "one in 70-year event".
The , three days after the Queen's funeral and the day after Mr Albanese and Governor-General David Hurley are scheduled to return from London.
Announcing the one-off public holiday on Sunday, Mr Albanese said he encouraged "all Australians, wherever you may be, to take time to pause and reflect on Her Majesty’s extraordinary life of service".
But medical staff, patients, working parents, casual workers and small business owners have expressed frustration, saying a day to mourn is both disruptive and costly.
Asked on 2GB radio on Tuesday about possible unintended consequences, including disruptions to medical appointments, the prime minister said, "of course [that's the case] with every public holiday".
"This isn't a declaration that no one is allowed to do anything on Thursday 22 September ... it is a declaration agreed to by myself and every minister and chief minister that [it] should be a National Day of Mourning," he said.
"It is appropriate that this is a one-off, one-in-a-70-year event. It is important that we acknowledge the contribution of Queen Elizabeth II over such a long period of time."
Mr Albanese said any issues, "with a bit of common sense", can be worked through.
In Canberra, a National Memorial Service will be held in the Great Hall of Parliament House at 11am and will be followed by one minute’s silence.
'Why the whinging?'
The news has been welcomed by many Australians looking forward to spending a day in tribute to the Queen with family, friends or in the pub, while Victorians will enjoy a four-day weekend thanks to a public holiday on 23 September to mark the AFL Grand Final the following day.
Comments on social media even berated those criticising the public holiday as "un-Australian".
"Omg it's a public holiday!! why the whinging?? It's a mark of respect for Our Head of State. If you don't want to participate go to work. I would rather go to the beach or have lunch with friends and a toast to the Queen," Veronica Laletin commented under an SBS News social media post announcing the day of mourning.
Hans Pass added: "the generosity of spirit demonstrated in this decision makes me proud to be an Australian".
But small business owners and casual workers facing lost income didn't share the festive sentiment, while economist Stephen Koukoulas estimated the public holiday would cost the national economy $1.5 billion.
"It's lost productivity and disruption to actual economic activity," Mr Koukoulas told SBS News.
Small businesses, casual workers forced to cover costs
Christine Scully owns a small business that teaches horse massage and equine nutrition in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges. She said that having to pay her four staff to have the day off while missing out on clients will cost her business about $3,000.
"We have clients that are booked in on that day so we'll need to organise whether we move them or whether we see them anyway. I'll have a discussion with my staff and we'll talk about what we're going to do," she told SBS News.
"I think it is unfair that small businesses have to pay to cover the cost of their staff not being there because a 96-year-old monarch passed away.
Christine Scully says the one-off day of mourning will cost her business about $3,000. Source: SBS News
Alexi Boyd, CEO of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, said her members across different industries had shown "a mixed bag of responses".
"Some who would benefit from having the increased foot traffic for example or those who are in particular tourism-prone areas are seeing it as a really welcome opportunity and a great day to increase sales," Ms Boyd said.
"But a number of other sectors of the small business economy are experiencing quite a number of stresses around how to work out the logistics and how to manage customer appointments," she said.
While businesses will have to pay full-time staff on 22 September, casual workers will receive no pay at all, a blow for those already suffering cost of living pressures.
There are 2.4 million casual workers in Australia, which account for 23 per cent of employees and 19 per cent of all people employed, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. There are also one million independent contractors, accounting for 7.8 per cent of all people employed.
Casual teacher Maria R Barberini, who lives in Western Sydney, said the timing ahead of the Spring school holidays would make things difficult for their family.
"I'm a casual teacher and need all the work I can get to pay rent and bills. With the cost of living rising and school holidays around the corner in NSW, losing a day's pay will have a negative impact on my ability to meet my responsibilities," Ms Barberini told SBS News.
"I'm normally a fan of public holidays, but unlike many, I don't get paid for them," they said.
Meanwhile, many working parents in states and territories where 22 September doesn't fall during the school holidays will be forced to take a day off work or find childcare, potentially at a cost.
Even the ASX said it was trying to work out what to do with its customers.
"ASX is ordinarily closed on national public holidays. We expect that to be the case on the 22nd too," a spokesperson said.
"However, given the [unscheduled] circumstances of this public holiday, there are some logistic and technical matters that we’re working through at the moment, including with customers, before we can confirm. We will inform the market as soon as possible."
'Difficult and disruptive' for hospitals
While some private medical centres and doctors clinics may remain open on 22 September, many hospital departments may be forced to close due to a lack of staff.
ENT Head and Neck Surgeon Dr Eric Levi, who works at St Vincent's Hospital and The Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, said hospitals rely on a huge and varied workforce and their absence will cause havoc.
"There are hundreds and thousands potentially of patients already booked in across hospitals around Australia," Dr Levi told SBS News.
"So if people just say, 'Oh, why don't you just stay open', they misunderstand the fact that it takes thousands of people to run a hospital care operating list.
"You need the clerks, you need the cleaners and you need the nurses, allied health and everyone to be physically there running the service."
To keep them at work would attract a public holiday pay, which could be extortionate for hospitals, he said.
Dr Levi said his own clinic has been forced to reschedule more than 60 patients, including many who had arranged to come from regional areas and interstate, as well as those with cancer requiring ongoing therapy.
In addition, some children had surgery booked for that day so they could recover during school holiday and not miss out on classes, he said.
"All that has to be rethought and reconsidered. Rebooking 60 patients onto other overbooked clinics is difficult.
"Most of us would love an extra public holiday but in this situation it's actually disruptive. We would rather be working and continuing to provide care if we can. We can obviously honour the queen in respectful other ways."
Professor Steve Robson, federal president of the Australian Medical Association, said many medical staff would be forced to take a day off work to look after children in the states and territories where 22 September doesn't fall during school holidays.
"It makes it very hard, particularly if schools are closed on a public holiday and many staff unexpectedly have to look after their kids. It's going to put enormous pressure on providing these elective procedures," he said.
While heathcare workers joined everyone in wanting to mourn the loss for the Queen, Professor Robson added that it was "an extraordinarily difficult period in the pandemic".
"Around Australia on the public holiday, there will be tens of thousands of Australians who've made arrangements for surgery, consultations, medical treatments, and having them cancelled at short notice is going to put enormous further strain on the healthcare system," he said.
"So we're hoping that some arrangements [are] made [so] these sort of procedures can either go ahead, or something else can happen to allow patients access treatment."
Mr Albanese said he expected medical procedures to go ahead on 22 September, adding a day of national mourning was "appropriate".
"The idea that operations don't occur during a public holiday is of course not correct. Medical procedures of course are always a priority," he said in a media conference on Monday.
"This is the first time we have had a change of a head of state and in which we have been in a position where Australia needs to and wants to give thanks to the contribution of Queen Elizabeth II as our head of state for 70 years.
"A one-off public holiday and a national day of mourning is an appropriate response."
