Wednesday, 4 August 2021

Adjournment

Small business support

Ms RYAN (Euroa) (19:00): (5961) My adjournment this evening is for the Minister for Industry Support and Recovery, and the action I seek is that he revise the guidelines for the government’s business support to reimburse businesses impacted by lockdowns. There is no more in the piggy bank. There is no more tucked away for a rainy day. Even the strongest businesses have now spent their reserves. People are now facing financial ruin because this government does not have a plan to get us out of lockdowns. We have urged the government to adopt rapid testing. They will not have a bar of it. We have urged them to limit lockdowns to affected areas. Again, they will not listen, nor will they release the health advice that they say underpins these decisions.

It is all very well and good for us in here. I continue to get paid. Every member in this house continues to get paid. Small business owners, the ones who generate the employment and the wealth in this state, do not continue to get paid. If you do not have a plan to get us out of lockdowns, then start reimbursing businesses for the full cost of their losses. The minister has previously bragged that the Andrews government has helped 120 000 businesses, but Victoria has about 600 000 businesses—or at least it did. So is the minister telling us that only one in five businesses has been impacted, or is he actually admitting that the majority of businesses in this state have not received a cracker from the government? Certainly the majority of those that have received money have not received anything like what they have lost.

Let me put it into context. Peter and Colleen from Palling brewery in Heathcote employ 15 people. They tried to do the right thing by keeping them working through the last lockdown. They received $3500 in business support from the government for the last lockdown, but their wage bill alone, even without their overheads, was $9000. They had a house in Melbourne but their tenant stopped paying rent. Because they could no longer pay their mortgage, they have had to sell their house just to keep their business afloat and to pay their bills. Graham Parker and his family have retail shops in Benalla, Shepparton and Wangaratta. Despite huge losses they have borne across their stores from five lockdowns, they have only been able to access support for one store because the government considers them to be one single business. Peter Harris is an egg farmer at Thoona. He supplies product—eggcellent product—to local pubs and restaurants. During the last lockdown he had no-one to sell his eggs to, leaving him with product and no income. He is not eligible for support under Labor’s criteria, despite losing significant income. Last week I met with Kim Ottrey, who runs a small business in Seymour fitting doors and windows. He has never asked for money from the government in his life. His message was simple: ‘I do not want handouts from the government, but if they’re going to lock us down in areas where there is no COVID, they must fully compensate us’.