Brisbane City Council announces Omicron relief measures for business, community groups
There is no denying that Omicron has brought a new set of challenges, with Brisbane business owners declaring the current “pseudo lockdown” the most difficult time of the pandemic. Short, sharp relief is required, writes Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner.
Opinion
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Did someone say lockdown?
If you’ve been out anywhere in Brisbane lately, you’d be forgiven for thinking some kind of Omicron curfew had been enforced.
Whether it’s the Queen Street Mall or suburban shopping strips, the scene is much the same. It’s clear a lot of people have simply decided to stock-up and stay home.
Almost two years on from the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 is finally among us.
People are either trying to avoid catching the virus or avoid being caught in an excruciatingly long test queue. Probably both.
Thankfully, Australia’s high vaccination levels are set to protect us from many of the devastating health impacts and terrible loss of life we have seen in other parts of the world.
But what is less clear right now, is what impact this “pseudo lockdown” will have on our already struggling local businesses and community groups.
Many business owners and community leaders that I’ve spoken to lately are deeply concerned.
Some of them have told me that this is the most frightening part of the pandemic because they’re facing it with no idea of how long it will last.
Customers have vanished, many of their staff are in home quarantine, key products are in short supply, yet most of the government schemes that were in place to help them have ended.
We all pulled together to make it through to the end of 2021 with the hope that 2022 would be a better year. One local restaurant owner told me that his business is suffering more right now than at any other time during the pandemic.
We’ve come so far over the past two years, and we can’t let businesses and community organisations fall at the last hurdle.
It’s the right thing to do.
From suburban cafes and the local food truck to major mall tenants and big community clubs, the relief package I’m announcing today will deliver significant benefit.
We’re waiving a swag of fees for the entire first quarter of 2022. For those who’ve paid already they’ll get the benefit in their next bill.
It’ll mean, for example, the average CBD restaurant with outdoor dining will save more than $1800 while a suburban cafe that utilises the footpath with save almost $700.
For many Brisbane sports clubs facing the prospect of few members wanting to sign up for another season, the savings will be several thousand dollars.
We need to do this now because if businesses fall over our recovery will take a lot longer. It’s much easier filling empty shelves than filling empty shops and shopping centres.
Hopefully the support package we’re delivering will encourage similar government schemes. Rather than more wage support schemes, loans or grants, what we need now is short and sharp relief measures that can help business through this hump.
Things like electricity bill rebates for certain types of businesses or payroll tax and stamp duty relief would provide immediate benefit.
I’ll support any measure that directly benefits Brisbane businesses doing it tough right now.
We can be proud of the way we’ve dealt with this pandemic and supported each other. Very few places in the world have been able to open up their economies at a time when such a high percentage of their population is vaccinated.
But we can’t afford to drop the ball now. 2022 can still be the positive year we were all hoping for, but it’s going to take more than just government rhetoric - action is needed, and it’s needed now.
Adrian Schrinner is Lord Mayor of Brisbane
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