Townsville tattoo artist uncertain what future holds after withdrawing $20K from her superannuation
Tough times call for desperate measures and for a Townsville tattoo artist it means paying the bills from her life savings.
Townsville
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A mother-of-five feels she has fallen through the cracks after being denied government assistance despite the COVID-19 crisis shutting down her business.
The Red Fox Tattoo owner Tanya Heathcote was putting the finishing touches on her new home studio when the Federal Government rolled out stage two of Australia’s coronavirus lockdown measures.
Ms Heathcote has been unable to trade since March 26 after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced tattoo parlours would be indefinitely banned under the tough new restrictions.
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As Ms Heathcote has not been tattooing for 12 months she is unable to claim the Government’s JobKeeper package and is not entitled to the job seeker assistance as her husband earns more than $80,000 a year, but he is retiring next month.
The 43-year-old said before the lockdown she had an eight-week customer waitlist and she was now losing $1000 a week in income.
She has now had to withdraw half of her superannuation to stay afloat.
“I have fallen through the cracks and I know I am not the only one,” she said. “I raised five children, so I haven’t spent a lot of time in the workforce and I only have $40,000 in super.”
The $20,000 she has withdrawn will help finish her home studio, pay her mortgage and buy “bread and toilet paper”.
Originally published as Townsville tattoo artist uncertain what future holds after withdrawing $20K from her superannuation