Politics

Jim From Jim’s Mowing Is Being Slammed For Vowing To Ignore Stage 4 Lockdown In Victoria

He says he'll pay any fine his franchisees cop if they continue working through the state's lockdown.

by Rachael Conaghan  5 August 2020
jims mowing

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Across Australia, the portrait of the man with the beard and the bucket hat is synonymous with one name: Jim.

Over the years we’ve grown used to seeing Jim’s beaming smile advertising everything from Jim’s Mowing to Jim’s Painting, Jim’s Pool Cleaning, Jim’s Antenna’s, and dozens of other services that makes up Jim’s Group.

But Jim isn’t just a marketing tool — he’s a real person, and like all real people, he’s let us down.

Today entrepreneur Jim Penman — real name David Penman — is being slammed for telling franchisees to continue working through Victoria’s Stage 4 restrictions, even offering to pay their fines if they’re caught.

Yesterday Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced all non-essential businesses across the state would close as part of prohibitive new restrictions designed to try and slow the skyrocketing spread of COVID-19 via community transmission.

“There will be no cleaners going to your house, there’ll be no one mowing your lawns. There will be no one providing anything other than emergency support,” the premier said.

But Jim reckons the premier is giving out mixed messages, and this morning told ABC News Breakfast co-host Lisa Millar the premier’s comments go against the advice of his own department.

“The point I’d like to make is there’s nothing more safe than going out and mowing lawns, for example. You don’t have contact with the public, we have electronic payments you’re not seeing people, you’re not with people, you’re not near to people,” he said.

“If you throw tens of thousands of Australians out of work and they all go home what are they going to do? They’re going to go down to the bottle shop.”

Under Stage 4 guidelines services relating to residential repair and maintenance is permitted “by exception”, and with a COVID Safe Plan.

Jim says nobody should be flouting the rules, but this shows a disconnect between the premier’s message and the department guidelines.

“If we’re told to shut down, if the the guidelines change we will absolutely shut down, but let the premier say what he really means,” he said.

Because this is the internet, the memes quickly took off.

Stay safe everyone, and probably best to cut your own grass for the foreseeable future.