Coffs shops to cash in on $3000 health worker bonus

Flat screen smart TVs and laptop computers will be the big ticket items as cashed up local health workers hit Coffs Harbour retailers like Harvey Norman.

Coffs Harbour retailers - especially electronics and white goods sellers - are in for a financial Christmas in July on the back of the $3000 bonus payments to health workers.

The state announced the one-off cash splash this week which will be paid to every full-time NSW Health worker - be they doctors, nurses, hospital cleaners or security.

That will see a significant economic ripple effect for the local economy as the health industry is “by far” the biggest employer in the area, Business NSW Mid North Coast regional manager Kellon Beard said.

“It’s certainly a welcome injection into an economy which has done it tough for a long time,” Mr Beard said.

The Mid North Coast Local Health District has an employee workforce of some 4500.

The Coffs Harbour Health Campus is the single biggest employer in the city.

The health bonus payments were announced by the state government as a means of saying thank you to a workforce stretched during the Covid pandemic.

The state has also increased the wage cap on the public sector to three per cent as inflation surges.

When the federal government shelled out $900 payments to taxpayers during the global financial crisis in 2009, it led to a boom in flat screen TV sales.

Kellon Beard: “It’s certainly a welcome injection into an economy which has done it tough for a long time.”

More of the same is now likely, as the payments coincide with retailers like Harvey Norman running their end of financial year clearance sales.

“Businesses will realise there’s extra money in the system and we can only encourage everyone to shop locally,” Mr Beard said.

While welcoming the bonus payments, the Health Services Union (HSU) wants to see more from the government.

NSW Health Services Union secretary Gerard Hayes: “For people on modest incomes, like cleaners and security, it is a massive boost.” Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

“Cleaners, paramedics, wardspeople, security and therapists have worked themselves to the bone to keep NSW safe,” NSW HSU secretary Gerard Hayes said.

“This payment recognises the reality of what our members have gone through.

“For people on modest incomes, like cleaners and security, it is a massive boost that makes up for the pay freeze of 2020.”

Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh said the government will spend $1.76 billion to recruit 2128 new NSW Ambulance staff and open 30 more stations. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Mr Hayes said the union would agitate for the public sector wage cap to be scrapped altogether.

“We need a system that allows workers to bargain for wages based on the cost of living and productivity, not a system based on the whim of politicians,” he said.

Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh said an important feature of the health workforce budget was a boost to NSW Ambulance, which has been under unprecedented pressure with historically high call rates.

“Government will provide immediate relief and support for NSW Ambulance, with $1.76 billion to recruit 2128 new staff and open 30 more stations,” Mr Singh said.