‘They need to own up to it’: Plea to Victorian government over pandemic response

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A leading restaurateur has warned that the past two years can’t be glossed over in Victoria - given the “deep, indelible scars” left by the government’s pandemic response.

The LUCAS Restaurants founder – which boasts institutions including Society, Grill Americano and Chin Chin - was an outspoken critic of the Victorian government over the course of the pandemic.

Stream more on politics with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2023Mr Lucas said the restaurant industry is now a shadow of what it once was after 262 days of lockdowns and various restrictions forced upon businesses. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

“Knowing the person that she is, she will look back on those comments, hopefully put them back into some context and maybe apologise or withdraw those comments,” he said.Ahead of Saturday’s election RedBridge Group has suggested that Labor could fall two seats short of the 45 needed to form a majority government.

Mr Lucas however said state’s experience with the coronavirus pandemic can’t be overlooked and that there must be some accountability. “And say that mistakes were made and that until we get that level of honesty, I don’t think we can rebuild.”

 

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Um ... the vast majority of Victorians wanted the lockdown.

No one glossed over anything that’s why we wanted

Nearly every skynews posts rubbish offering other peoples opinions that don’t matter.. skynews is not news

Jam that...

Hahaha Suck it LOSERS!!!

Murdoch is such a fuckhead fascist.

It is a pity this 'restauranteur' is unaware where the problem started. The feds were so slow at getting the public vaccinated that the only way to save lives was to lock down. A clueless Coalition federal government was out of it's depth and a PM that thought God would fix it.

It's the pandemic leaving 'scars ' not the Labor government who tried to deal with it

Na they just like the bodies piled up in the morgue, how many dead in federal run nursing homes. Didn’t some private owners scarper off to Greece to avoid the questioning?

Cookers gonna cook

Yep, we all know what Chris thinks. Been a favorite “source” for comment for HWT throughout the last couple of years.

Lucas you flog.

In case he didn’t notice, this is a worldwide pandemic. They way these bozos talk you’d think it only happened in Victoria. 🙄

Give it up you didn’t kick Andrews out

And the fact that every lockdown was caused by a lieberal leader , bin chicken shredder lady Gladys and pooncy jacket marshmallow Marshall, guessing that's forgotten conveniently

Greed over lives…! Go SkyNewsAust! Bloody legends… 👌

Oh please shut up and get on with it

Will sky news own the smear campaign of the last few weeks if Andrews wins and decide to be a news channel instead of propaganda ?

Ask his staff on the under paid wages! guttermedia

lol okay

Chris Lucas underpays his staff. Who cares what he thinks.

Beware of Greeks wearing lifts

At least didn't use the cafe owner this time.

Which restaurant? We’ll avoid. I am so not eating anywhere that disregards health measures. Not being funny, gross.

A leading restauranteur who not only underpays his staff, and overcharges his patrons, is still whining about how society that he has lived parasitically off for his whole life, was hit with a pandemic that didn’t suit him…

Cue the tiny violin

Lucas is a germ. Abused COVID rules and staff. Everyone who works in Flinders Lane despises him! FACT.

Any “deep indelible scars” have been made by a global pandemic. Show me a country that does not have deep indelible scars from the pandemic. Dan Andrews was not responsible for the pandemic, as much as these restaurant owner expert epidemiologists try to convince ppl otherwise.

Yes, we need to hear more from hard done by restaurateurs and Cafe owners! They clearly know more about health than the health experts 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

He didn’t get JobKeeper?

Ask Chris Lukas how much money he owes his staff

Who cares what he thinks, he is nothing, he is a nobody, he is irrelevant, he is redundant. His point of view has no value, no weight, its laughable. Perfect Sky News story.

That's a wage theft guy though

Is Melbourne the only city in the world where all cafe and restaurant owners also hold qualifications in public health administration?

You know what goes with indelible scars? Inedible food! Chew on that.

ValBlackshaw1 “Mr Lucas said Ms Capp will come to regret the “insensitive” comments made and will hopefully apologise.” You would be waiting along time for an apology from Ms Capp.

Well they clearly are because he’s probably going to win.

I actually think your commentary has been creating bigger scars

You’re alive aren’t you? What’s your problem? And no one tied you down to have the vaccine. Was all voluntary. So who’s fault is it that people want to work from home and not come back to CBD and buy your $5-6 coffee? Spare me. Vote 1 Labor and put LNP last where they put you.

Ok. Next, cafe owners!

Another Tory whinging establishment to boycott. Thanks Goebbels Murdoch's Sky bias for spotlighting these selfish Parasites. If you can't take public health seriously you have no business running a restaurant. Theres plenty of other places competing for workers money.

🤣😂🤣

Is there anyone other than Chris Lucas whose available to comment?

Yes it’s like there was a response to the outbreak of a plague or something.. farkoff partisan hacks

At last the Cafe Owners reappear in full whinge mode

Do the Liberal Party own Sky News?

'a leading restaurateur'. Just another LNP connected guy who resents having to pay his workers properly.

This guy in no way represents our industry, and is in fact in direct conflict with the majority of it, including those he has exploited to make his millions.

What utter crap. Without doing what he did there would be 1000s of deaths

'A leading restaurateur has warned that the past 2 yrs can’t be glossed over in Victoria', forgetting that he, his family & 10s of 1000s of Victorians didn't die from a dangerous virus. Luckily they found a vaccine so this 'leading restauranteur' can now go about his life safely.

Victoria’s pandemic response saved thousands of Australians…Just look at the Covid death rate in the U.K. and compare.

Poor bugger, get over it, he could be dead from covid. Pisses me these whingers about covid restrictions that saved thousands of lives are still whinging. Covid is not over. You got what you wanted, all protections dropped and deaths continue.

yeh, liberals love hanging out with crooks

At least that man is alive to talk about it.

I’ll take political adviser from a cook when I take nutritional advice from a politician. He should stop whining and being a sook.

Anyone would think Victoria is the only place on this earth that has suffered from pandemic measures. Don't underestimate the experience of other people around the world.

What about the cafe owners?

Hahaa

VOTE LABOR LAST

Different to other states, how?

Considering Victoria had best pandemic response in Australia this story is purely LNP propaganda.

“Need to own up to it” ?… Sky News needs to own up to being a right wing rag with bias journalism. Can’t be glossed over.

'A leading restaurateur' ... I thought you guys were so down on ABCaustralia, but now you are mimicking them. Go figure.

Wage thief!

It's terrible how only restaurateurs and cafe owners were impacted by the Government pandemic response.

A restaurateur on Sky news , sounds like the start of a joke.

The 'deep indelible scars' left by the LNP undermining health. MurdochGutterMedia MurdochRoyalCommission

Do you have a gym owner lined up too?

Boycott his overpriced tuckshops.

What we need is a fair and balanced media who actually reports facts and news. Not propaganda machines for anyone who has a grudge because people were saved from dying during a pandemic.

Another disgruntled cafe owner

Deep, indelible scars…like the ones that allow youto open 2 fine dining restaurants in the last 2 years and pinch your workers wages?

“More people should have died or got long covid so I could have made more money!!!”

The ‘leading restauranteur’ didn’t know that for a long time Australia didn’t have vaccines and people were dying from COVID. Just a small detail missing from Murdoch scum reporting

Poor restaurateur, get some balls and get over it. Typical fucking cafe owner.

Thank goodness, for a moment there I thought we'd stopped hearing from restaurant and cafe owners...

Of course cafe owners are well established research basis.

Anyone would think that Victoria was the only place in Australian to experience lockdown get over yourself you very small percentage of Victorians

👇

Oh it's Chris again and again and again. Give it a rest! ThisIsNotJournalism MurdochGutterMedia

Cool story bro.

'Restauranteur'... Is this the stepup from LieNews usual economic barometer of 'cafe owner'

3 restaurants, what a victim

Own up to what? This guy’s sense of entitlement is off the charts.

Oh good, three more establishments to boycott. Whinge, whinge.

An industry with a history of wage theft has deep indelible scars, and is demanding accountability; well, I'll be gob smacked.

You would think the economy consisted of cafés and restaurants wouldn’t you 😂

Gee, Melbourne is Australia's most liveable city and number 10 in the world, can he explain what he means about Melbourne rebuilding? Imagine how BAD the rest of the country is if this guy is right.....

It was an fn pandemic ffs

Almost like there wasn't a pandemic at all ! Do some real journalism Sky

And if we’d let the virus rip before we had a handle on properties of the virus, better treatment paths and any vaccines, Chris would likely have no business at all.

Question for the leading restraunter think you could have done a better job ?

A leading RESTAURATEUR!

Get over it!

Another “Unlock Hospitality Now!” signatory, Chris Lucas, was found to have underpaid staff by $340,000 in a single year. While the millionaire Lucas was building his seventh restaurant, one of his former employees describes being underpaid $9,500

This restaurateur probably also doesn’t believe that Private Risk should be transferred & burdened to the Public for the next 80 years. But I bet he took the Covid Stim $$ . Ask him how much he got & if he has any issue that the Public took on that Risk of his business ventures.

Victorian Government - only government throughout Australia required to table in parliament health advice it receives. that is accountability

Official Crap Gutter Trash. You are not news.

What did the virologists, scientists and doctors say ?

Don’t forget to talk to the hairdressers……better alive than going out for what could have been a last meal or haircut IStandWithDan

IStandWithDan

Sky News keeps hardening my determination to vote Labor. And there are plenty of other people out there like me. vicpol

Which bit of it being a pandemic don’t some understand? I think it’s time for those types to own up to their ignorance.

It's drag out the poor Restaurant owner time on 🐂💩 News....

You Murdoch muppets ever speak to health care workers for their thoughts?

Hahhah a restaurateur , so influential, so understanding of the communities health , give me a break!

Channelstokes ffs same as the MurdochGutterMedia

They should be bloody grateful, if lockdown had not occurred their businesses would have all gone to the wall, not to mention the damage done to the community at large. Sick of whining Cafe and restaurant owners.

IT SAVED LIVES YOU CAN ALWAYS GET MONEY

Did you remind him that dead people don’t go out for dinner nearly as often?

The last two years were horrible, so vote liberal (or freedumbers) to keep it that way…

You guys have been so even handed the last 3 years

Cookers are sookers

Apparently restaurant and cafe owners are the only constituents with an opinion that counts.

Chris Lucas is a piece of work. If he’s upset about anything, it’s alright by me.

BREAKING: The Andrews Government has increased its lead over the coalition to 54.5 / 45.5 (2PP), up marginally from three weeks ago, on the eve of polling day (Newspoll). Back to the kitchen, mate.

A restaurateur? Couldn’t find a Melbourne cafe owner this this?

Harden up cup cake. It was a global pandemic with no play book. The lack of accountability in your industry and the way the employees are treated should be more of a concern to you. And you can rebuild, you are just another whining partisan hack looking for excuses.

Oh the bloke who under paid his staff. He’s a crook. Snoop reckons…

A leading political commentator says you need to cook pulled pork for at least three hours

The city is always packed. If he hasn’t made his money by now then maybe his joint just isn’t that good.

I’m canceling my subscription. I can’t put up with this shit anymore!

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Huh? What happened to the cafe owners?

Another stooge!

The pandemic's true experts, disgruntled cafe owners who have been forced to pay their employees correctly and now realise they have been profiting on wage theft all this time.

Does buying a restaurant come with liberal party memberships these days?

Cafe owners… gotta love them.

Get stuffed. You tried hard. You will lose.

This guy has 8 restaurants,and what you never saved some money for a rainy day,

Don't forgive two years of cruelty, the arrogance can come back. Get rid off this govt

Get him to open his books.

Where can I go for unbiased reporting in this country? SBS seems the only likely candidate

Restaurant owners who are well know for ripping off staff and consumers. As Sky continues down its path to oblivion. MurdochRoyalCommission MurdochGutterMedia

Isn't he the guy who has the hot dog stand at the footy?

That Turkey forgets that elsewhere in the world at that time, people were being buried in mass graves, 6 coffins wide & 4 coffins deep in rows 100 metres long, until vaccines became available & stemmed the tide. Without strong leadership, Victoria would have been the same.

It's so 'real'...

Blah blah blah bullshite MurdochGutterMedia MurdochRoyalCommission MurdochFreeWorld IStandWithDan 🌟

Neither can the quality of his restaurants- food and service.

LOL

Crikey…..not a leading restaurateur. Your really rolling out the experts now!

Not that whinging Liberal Party prick again.

YOU TRUST SKY NEWS? Apart from the LIBERALS, SKY NEWS Jack Houghton and SKY NEWS after dark MUTT'S also back confessed CROTCH GRABBER Donald Trump! SKY NEWS seems to be a pedophile protection racket! SKY NEWS BACK'S LOSERS! Says a lot doesn't it....

Bad luck bro. The safety of the community trumps your commercial interests

Oh goody, let’s hear from (again) from the wage thief.

Yes indeed. Things are so dire in Melbourne that Chris Lucas keeps, (checks notes) opening more restaurants. What a hellscape it must be operating businesses in Australia's most vibrant economy, where the only real problem hospitality industry businesses have is finding staff.

Yes, whiny multimillionaire restaurateurs are who I seek COVID response evaluations from, too. Oh, wait ...

Will never ever eat in a Lucas restaurant or use Jim’s mowing or other Jim’s services for the rest of my life.

Let me guess who! Nobody cared then and nobody cares now what you have to say 🙄🙄🙄

Cafe owners did wages theft, got penalty rates cut and whinge they can't get workers.

The problem with these cafe shop owners who are also expert epidemiologists,complain when they haven’t got enough employees 2 run their shops,ooops sorry,their medical departs b/c they’re off sick with Covid but demand they work with Covid so they can infect innocent customers 🙄

A leading restaurateur 🤣

Put a sock in it Sky News

This from the grub who underpaid his staff more than $340,000 in one year alone !!

Health is more important than the opinion of a restaurateur…

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