Wednesday, 17 August 2022

 Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (09:51): Last week I met with the owners of the fantastic Moon Lee Tae Kwon Do martial arts centre in Dandenong. Even though people could have socially distanced in their large gym, they were forced to close for the best part of two years. Now that people with COVID are allowed to compete at the Commonwealth Games, all of this seems crazy. Only a few months ago, you will remember, Novak Djokovic was made to feel like a leper and excluded from Australia even though he was perfectly healthy. Although their business is open again, the impact of the pandemic is not over for them. Their business depends on word of mouth, which was disrupted for two years. In addition, many people have been slow to return to their old habits and seem to be afraid to go out. They told me about three major things that they want from government: operating certainty, less red tape and cheaper energy. In other words, they just want to be left alone to do business. Unfortunately governments of all kinds are failing at this simple task.