Canberra business leaders struggling to survive during lockdown have dismissed a suite of financial support measures from the ACT Government as no concession at all.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the ACT Government would allow click-and-collect services to increase staff from two to five people from this weekend; increase the utilities concession; and double land tax and commercial rates relief for landlords who provided rent relief to their tenants.
John-Paul Romano, chair of the Inner-South Business Council, said these were only a proportional increase in business support as lockdown lengthened. Kel Watt, a spokesman for Braddon United Retailers and Traders, agreed:
“Putting extra staff on is no concession whatsoever because they’re not getting the sales. Moving from two people in click-and-collect to five means nothing other than higher overheads, if you don’t have the revenue coming through. You can put on extra staff; all you’re doing is paying extra wages.”
- Business grants hard to access, slow to arrive
- Business groups warn lockdown extension could be knockout blow
Businesses insist more financial support will be needed even after lockdown is meant to end on 15 October. If only one person is allowed per four square metres, they say, many businesses will not be financially viable.
“Funding can’t end when the lockdown ends,” Mr Romano said. “It has to continue until we’re back at full capacity plus a couple of weeks.”
He believes that the ACT Government should introduce a payment similar to NSW’s JobKeeper. “We’re almost in the same point in lockdown to really assist our cash flows.”
The hospitality sector wants to be able to operate in full a fortnight after 80 per cent of Canberrans are vaccinated, provided patrons can prove they have been vaccinated.
“We’re never going to get out of having some sort of restrictions otherwise,” Mr Watt said.
Mr Romano believes the decree should be based on vaccination numbers, hospitalisations, and deaths – not on case numbers.
“Case numbers, once people get vaccinated, as we’ve seen throughout the world, are irrelevant,” he said. This week, he pointed out, the Netherlands fully vaccinated 80 per cent of its population, and reopened its businesses, without check-ins or vaccine passports.
Tara Cheyne, Minister for Business, said the ACT Government was focused on the public health response and ensuring the community was at least 80 per cent vaccinated.
“Achieving very high levels of vaccination is the best way we can give businesses confidence to reopen,” she said.
Read more:
