Canberra Business Chamber CEO Graham Catt said businesses were hoping for better news out of yesterday’s announcements.
As lockdown has been extended by another month to Friday 15 October, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the ACT Government would extend and expand a range of financial support measures.
Mr Catt said that although most people expected an extension of the lockdown, businesses were also looking for more detail about their pathway out.
“For the business community, what began as a seven-day lockdown became a five-week lockdown, and is now a nine-week lockdown,” he said.
Many expected that at 70 and 80 per cent vaccination rates, normal economic activity would be resumed in stages.
“Business owners hoped for more detail about what life will look like when we reach the different phases of the pathway. When might we shop in person, eat out, or have a haircut again?”
More than 7,000 business have applied for business support grants; Mr Barr said that $17.26 million has been paid to more than 1,000 business over the last week.
However, several business leaders said they had not received a grant five weeks into lockdown, nor met anyone who had. They want assistance urgently.
“Many are telling us that the payments aren’t coming quickly enough,” Mr Catt said.
“People are eating into their savings, and as more small businesses hold onto their cash and can’t pay their bills to other businesses, it is hitting everyone’s cash flow.
“Thousands of ACT businesses and their employees cannot wait another four weeks and possibly longer for the economy to reopen without substantial support. Getting support payments to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible is critical.
“We need that support to be automatically extended, and increased as the lockdown extends.
“We cannot underestimate the economic strain that is currently being carried by private and not-for-profit ACT businesses, and the devastating long term economic impacts if we cannot provide them with the support they need to survive,” Mr Catt said.
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