Hemmes calls for JobKeeper restart to safeguard Sydney restaurants, bars

Sydney lockdown has put the hospitality sector “on its knees” with industry leaders pushing for JobKeeper to be urgently reinstated.

Hospitality king Justin Hemmes has declared the industry is “on its knees” and desperately needs a reinstatement of JobKeeper to survive more lockdowns.

“Without a JobKeeper 3.0 the industry cannot survive continued lockdowns,” he said.

“The hospitality industry is one of the hardest hit in the pandemic. We are the first ones to close and often the last to open. It has been three weeks of closures already.”

Justin Hemmes has called for JobKeeper to be reinstated amid the Sydney lockdown. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

He said the scheme’s ability to keep staff connected to businesses and support their mental health was critical, adding that he was open to claw back provisions to prevent operators from profiting from JobKeeper.

“It is a tried and tested mechanism,” he said.

“Probably the best in the world. We need to see it returned in order to support staff and business.”

The federal government is refusing to step up its disaster relief payments for the beleaguered hospitality sector despite warnings that long term staff will desert the industry for less lockdown-affected jobs and iconic venues across the country may never recover from the current wave of lockdowns.

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has also personally written to Mr Frydenberg asking for an extension of JobKeeper but his request was rejected.

NSW Labor Leader Chris Minns also backed the calls saying: “if the health advice says a deeper lockdown, then the financial support needs to include JobKeeper”.

“This lockdown is deeper than last year and yet the financial support is a lot less,” he said.

However, sources within the federal government have indicated they will not be moved on restarting JobKeeper or increasing disaster relief payments that entitle workers who have had their hours cut to up to $600 per week, with one telling The Daily Telegraph the settings will remain “as is”.

The federal government has refused to step up its disaster relief payments for the hospitality sector. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Last week, the federal government announced an increase in payments for casual workers and sole traders who had lost hours in the pandemic, with those who had lost more than 20 hours a week now eligible for $600 a week.

Despite the government’s seeming unwillingness to go further, others in the restaurant industry echoed Mr Hemmes’ call, saying that the long term survival of the sector depended on keeping employees from abandoning their careers in a tight job market.

Wes Lambert, CEO of the Restaurant & Catering Industry Association, said that many of his members were reporting that “some of their long term employees are leaving industry due to the sawtooth and yoyo effects of lockdowns and restrictions and the uncertainty and unpredictability of their wages.”