Bunnings Karen (meme) refers to a woman who entered a Bunnings store in Victoria last week and openly and aggressively berated an employee who had dared to ask her if she had a mask.
Karen replied that she was being discriminated against because she was a woman and it was an unlawful/illegal condition to refuse entry and that she would sue the employee. The video has gone viral.
The Karen’s around the World rely on the right to free assembly, the right to free speech and the apparent unfettered right to do whatever they want including not wearing a face mask.
1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights
They quote the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights and the Constitution – conspiracy theories are added in for good measure.
Under “State of Emergency Laws”, a public authority has powers to mandate the wearing of face masks in public, subject to limited exceptions.
Australian Consumer Laws
Under Australian Consumer Laws, a store owner can make it a condition of entry to wear a mask. In fact under Occupational Health and Safety Laws, store owners could get in trouble for allowing non-mask wearers into their stores.
Again time and place in relation to the threat of community spread of Covid-19 must be considered. From a legal standpoint, Karen’s “legal basis” for not wearing a face mask amounts to rambling, illogical, incoherent gibberish.
It just so happens that Karen is also an Ordained Pagan Minister and Exorcist so she may know more than the lawyers?