The ACT and Federal Governments this week doubled the value of the COVID-19 Business Support Grants, the largest grants program the Territory has ever administered – but a local business leader thinks it is not enough, and insists the government do more to save the ACT economy.

“Really, nothing has changed from the perspective of business,” said John-Paul Romano, chairman of the Inner-South Canberra Business Council (ISCBC).

“Proportionally, it’s the same amount of money: still only about $3,000 or $4,000 a week. This will have a really adverse effect for business; for some, $3,000 a week is great, but for other businesses, $3,000 a week is half an hour of trade.”

Every week that lockdown is extended, Mr Romano said, the viability of businesses in the ACT decreases.

Many hospitality businesses have elected not to open.

“While putting some money through the door is better than none, if you are bleeding money profusely, it’s better to bleed a little bit than it is to bleed a lot. It’s better just to close the doors altogether.”

But he fears those businesses might not reopen when the lockdown is lifted and government support finishes.

“Once those protections end, I think we will see a lot of businesses that won’t recover. It will have an ongoing effect on the ACT economy for a number of years.”

While he supported lockdown in its current form, Mr Romano doubted whether the ACT Government’s gradual approach to easing restrictions would benefit businesses. Canberra businesses would prefer the Queensland model, going from full lockdown to no lockdown, and then returning to full lockdown if necessary.

“One person per four square metres is worse than full lockdown for business, because they don’t get any support from the government whatsoever, and yet they have this restriction that effectively prevents them from trading,” he said.

“Really, really, what businesses don’t need is to still have restrictions in February next year.”

An ACT Government spokesperson said the government will continue to take advice from the Chief Health Officer when it comes to the public health restrictions required to keep the community safe as vaccination rates rise.

The economy is a finite circle, even on a good day, Mr Romano explained. Once businesses start struggling, others follow suit. If a café or bar owner, for instance, stops making revenue, they stop making money – with knock-on effects on the property sector, legal services, entertainment, and every other industry.

“It all has a flow-on effect. That’s just when you take one cog in the engine out – but when you take several cogs in the engine out, things really start to seize up.”

The ACT Government should have acted sooner, and could have provided more money, Mr Romano believes. He said ISCBC urged the ACT Government months ago to be prepared to provide business support within days of a lockdown.

“The government was warned to have these protections in place, to have the payments ready to go,” he said. “We’re now more than three weeks into lockdown – and they still haven’t paid one business support payment. That’s just phenomenal.”

The first payments will occur in coming days, an ACT Government spokesperson stated – weeks ahead of the equivalent NSW program, for instance. Businesses will receive payments within 30 days on average of a correctly lodged application, and many will receive payment ahead of the 30-day average.

Mr Romano claimed, moreover, that the ACT Government had put obstacles in the way of supporting business.

The Federal Government, he said, made employee support payments ready within 24 hours, sometimes within 15 minutes of application, because they knew businesses needed the money; if businesses later turned out not to have qualified for the payment, the government would get the money back with interest. But, Mr Romano said, the ACT Government had taken the opposite approach: checking for eligibility first, and then paying the money.

“There’s plenty of time to play detective after this lockdown period is over,” Mr Romano said.

“If no business is being paid yet, we’re still talking about another 30 days until the first cent could hit a business’s bank account. The business could be gone by then. That’s the fundamental flaw in all this business support from the ACT Government.

“We’ve already got huge amount of vacant commercial space in Canberra; does the government want that to increase, or do they want the city to be a vibrant, thriving city with bars, nightclubs, restaurants, cafes?”

The ACT Government was providing support as quickly as possible, the spokesperson stated, considering the need to ensure applicants were legitimate businesses operating in the ACT, and could provide evidence of a 30 per cent reduction in turnover.

“The program is designed to balance the need to get support to business quickly with the need to mitigate the risk of fraud and misuse,” the spokesperson said.

“We are learning from the experiences of other jurisdictions, and do not want to put businesses in the position of having to pay back money.”

The Business Grants were the first cash grant the ACT Government would pay to all local businesses adversely affected in two extremely difficult years, Mr Romano said. (True, he acknowledged, the ACT Government provided licence waivers, but the $2 million ChooseCBR scheme did not support all businesses.) Whereas Queanbeyan businesses, just over the border, received a $10,000 grant for bushfire smoke and another $10,000 grant during the first wave of COVID-19.

“Businesses have to question the ACT Government’s loyalty to them,” Mr Romano said.

“At the end of the day, these businesses all pay GST; most pay licence fees; some pay rates and land tax. These businesses produce economic output, which in part funds all the ACT Government’s other activities.”

A government spokesperson said that during the COVID-19 pandemic last year, many ACT businesses were able to access JobKeeper payments. The ACT Government administered some grants programs, including for those unable to access JobKeeper payments, such as the HOMEFRONT grants for local artists, Amp It Up! grants for music venues, Innovation Connect grants for business innovation (administered by the Canberra Innovation Network), MADE IN CBR fund to support screen professionals impacted by COVID-19, and a Jobs and Economic Recovery Round of the Priority Investment Program. 

The ACT Government has also provided fee waivers, deferrals and subsidies, such as payroll tax waivers, rates rebates, liquor licence fee waivers, and free outdoor dining permits. “These kinds of business support programs are much easier and more efficient for the ACT Government to administer than cash grants,” the spokesperson said.

Mr Romano suggests the ACT Government provide tailored cash grants to businesses by sector. “What’s $20,000 to a large residential construction company?” One business owner in that industry spends close to $5,000 a day, just to open their doors – on rent, warehouses, and staff.

The ACT Government has several business support programs open to a range of sectors, the spokesperson said. Accommodation businesses and local tourism operators can receive rebates of up to $75,000 on fixed water and sewage charges through the Accommodation and Tourism Venue Operator support program, while the Small Tourism Operator COVID Recovery payment offers reimbursements of up to $15,000 for expenses (rates, fees and charges, fuel and mortgage repayments, perishable goods). These close 17 September.

The ACT Government has worked closely with the local construction sector, the spokesperson continued; some construction activities will recommence from tomorrow, Friday 3 September.

“We continue to meet with business industry representatives several times a week to discuss the issues facing our business community,” the government spokesperson said.

The Canberra Business Advice and Support Service, funded by the ACT Government, can also provide support to businesses facing financial stress. This is delivered by the Canberra Business Enterprise Centre, and there are details on the Business Hub website.

The full range of ACT Government supports is on the Business Hub website.

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