End of JobKeeper set to hit SA’s hospitality, tourism industries hard

The government’s support scheme is at an end and Adelaide’s hospitality and tourism businesses are expecting the worst.

More than 10,000 South Australian jobs could be lost this week in the wake of JobKeeper ending on Sunday, the Opposition warns.

The Australian Hotels Association of SA says the hospitality and tourism sectors will bear the brunt of the fallout.

The Commonwealth Treasury estimated that up to 150,000 workers across Australia would lose their jobs in the week after the Federal Government’s COVID-19 wage subsidy ended.

Labor says this works out to more than 10,000 jobs in SA, on a per capita basis.

There were about 48,000 South Australians on JobKeeper when the program ended on Sunday.

AHA SA general manager Ian Horne said it was “inevitable” that workers within the hospitality and tourism industries, particularly small bars, country pubs and CDB businesses, would lose jobs or work hours.

Clever Little Tailor owner Joshua Baker. Picture: Matt Loxton

“There will be a number of casualties and we’ll see that relatively quickly, in a month or two months,” he said.

Mr Horne said the easing of COVID-19 restrictions last week, from one person per two square metres to three people per four square metres, was a positive step for the hospitality industry and would “give people a chance”.

“That may be enough to minimise the damage,” he said.

Mr Horne urged the Federal Government to replace JobKeeper with a more tailored funding supplement to support businesses still struggling due to the pandemic.

“We can’t pull the rug out from underneath people,” he said.

Josh Baker, who owns several businesses including Adelaide small bars Clever Little Tailor in Peel St and Pink Moon Saloon, in Leigh St, said the end of JobKeeper “is going to hurt us a lot”.

“It could be the end of an era,” he said.

“I think that we’re going to have to change the way we do stuff.”

Leader of the Opposition Peter Malinauskas. Picture: Tom Huntley

State Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas said Premier Steven Marshall had “done nothing to help the thousands of workers and businesses which will lose JobKeeper”.

“Steven Marshall has known the end of JobKeeper has been coming for months, yet where is his plan?” he said.

“This doesn’t just affect 18,000 businesses and 48,000 workers (who were on JobKeeper); this will take tens of millions of dollars out of the economy every single fortnight.”

Mr Marshall dismissed the Opposition’s claims, saying Labor was “always talking down the state”.

“There is definitely going to be some pain for a small number of employers here in South Australia – That’s why our focus in government is to work extra specially hard to grow other employment opportunities,” he said.

“We have invested very heavily in South Australia, creating employment opportunities in (the state).”