Desperate Queensland businesses blast slow-moving Covid support

Shocking new figures reveal just how many of the nearly 25,000 desperate Queensland businesses that applied for Covid-19 assistance have actually received any money.

Just over a quarter of the nearly 25,000 desperate Queensland businesses that applied for much-needed Covid-19 business assistance have received any money, new figures reveal.

The state and federal governments announced a $600 million jointly-funded support package in the wake of Queensland’s week-long lockdown in early August, including a sliding-scale of payments for small businesses starting at $5000.

But of the 25,000 businesses that applied for the grants, just 6353 had been approved by Friday last week.

A government spokesman, asked to explain the seemingly slow pace of approvals, said the assessment process was “rigorous” because taxpayers “rightly expect” that the funding goes to the people who need it.

A Queensland small-business owner with shops near the NSW border signed up for the grant days after applications opened and said he was yet to hear back.

Saul Wiseman, who owns two Baskin Robbins franchises in Coolangatta, said the financial support package he needed was between four and 10 times more than anything he would receive from the jointly-funded Covid-19 business support package on offer.

Mr Wiseman passed no judgment on the closure of border between QLD and NSW but the government should have known the toll this would take on businesses.

Baskin Robins Coolangatta store manager Glenn Womes. Picture: Nigel Hallett

In the first week of September last year one of his Baskin Robbins stores pulled 390 customers, making nearly $5000 in sales.

The same week this year, just 81 customers came through and the store sold just $965 of product.

“I don’t think that the state government gets that (while it may be) one business … their decisions impact a whole tree of people,” he said.

“The 21 staff that I have (including manager Glenn Womes), the landlord, then there’s our suppliers, the business of the franchise itself.

“I say that’s negligent … if you know something is going to happen due to a decision you make, and do nothing.”

Mr Wiseman said at the end of the day, he and fellow Coolangatta business owners, wanted the state government to acknowledge the struggles they had been forced to endure.

In response, the government spokesman placed the blame at the feet of NSW, saying the southern state’s lockdown “had placed a heavy burden” on businesses in border communities.

The spokesman confirmed work was being done to “enhance” the existing support package to address “NSW’s mismanagement of the pandemic”.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland policy and advocacy general manager Amanda Rohan said rapid and efficient financial support was critical for businesses during lockdowns.

She said that for the “long-term financial and emotional impact” of Covid-19 on businesses to be remedied, the sector needed to know what was in store for the future.

“This includes details of what support will be on the table should there be further snap lockdowns … vaccination targets and deadlines for borders to re-open and a plan for the economy to get moving again, on par with what business in other states have already been afforded,” she said.