Covid chaos to cripple regional Victoria’s economy
Melbourne’s Covid-19 chaos has ripped the heart out of regional Victorian small business on its fragile road to recovery.
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Melbourne’s Covid-19 chaos has ripped the heart out of regional Victorian small business on its fragile road to recovery, with millions of dollars disappearing into the lockdown drain – again.
The state will enter a seven-day lockdown from 11.59pm on Thursday.
With only five reasons to leave home, major events have been forced to cancel and business owners have shut their doors in what they say will have devastating consequences on the bottom line.
But Acting Premier James Merlino said imposing the restrictions across the entire state was necessary.
“There is also the risk of people in metropolitan Melbourne moving into regional Victoria and spreading transmission of the virus,” he said.
“There is very strong advice from public health that this needs to be a statewide lockdown, a circuit breaker and we will make a public health leading an assessment every day in terms of how we are tracking.
“It is seven days. If it can be earlier, it will be but it is a seven-day circuit breaker lockdown for the entirety of the state.”
Goulburn Valley
Winton Raceway will sit silent this weekend after it was confirmed the fifth round of the Supercars Championship had been postponed.
The proposed new Winton event dates will be set between the NTI Townsville 500 and Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight events on July 31 and August 1.
“Supercars and the Benalla Auto Club have this morning confirmed this weekend’s planned staging of the Winton SuperSprint will be postponed due to the ongoing covid situation in Victoria,” a Supercars statement read.
“While regrettable, today’s decision has been made to ensure the health and safety of all Supercars fans, staff and teams.
“Ticket holders for this weekend’s event can either collect a full refund or hold on to their tickets for the Winton SuperSprint to run on the new dates.
“Supercars and the Benalla Auto Club will continue to ensure that all events are compliant with appropriate state, territory and federal regulations.”
Benalla Auto Club chief executive Chris Lewis-Williams said the postponement was devastating for a community still feeling the effects of lockdowns last year.
“Our economic report tells us the event injects several million dollars into the region,” he said.
“And that‘s not just us because it goes into the local accommodation and hospitality venues as well.
“But we‘re confident all of our patrons will return for the rescheduled event later in the year because they are very loyal.”
Wodonga
Businesses in Wodonga, a Victorian and NSW border community, will be forced to close their doors for a fourth time while just metres away Albury businesses continue operating as normal.
Wodonga restaurant La Maison owner Wasim Saliba said he was devastated.
“We’re so close to Albury that people always think we’re in NSW,” Mr Saliba said.
“It messes with your head that you can be 200m up the road and you can live normal, but if you go the other way you have to wear masks and close your business. It’s really unfair.
“The decision-makers have no understanding what border towns go through, they should make different rules to minimise the suffering of people in border towns.
“We understand health and safety is number one, but it’s about not having the ability to do localised lockdowns instead of locking down the whole state.”
Wodonga has not had a covid case for more than 290 days.
Business Wodonga chief executive Neil Aird said the lockdowns had a huge affect on morale for business owners in Wodonga who watched their Albury counterparts thrive.
The Albury Wodonga Business Awards Night was supposed to be held on Friday, but now Mr Aird said no one from Wodonga would be able to go.
“It’s a major celebration for all our business, and we were booked out,” Mr Aird said.
“It was going to be a great night, and I won’t be able to go and none of our Wodonga business owners will.
“It’s just a shame this outbreak has happened.
“I don’t know if it’s from complacency, but we have to be doing all we can to limit the spread.”
State member for Albury Justin Clancy said the NSW would stay open for the time being.
He said Wodonga residents would still be able to travel into Albury for care or caregiving, essential groceries, and essential employment as set out by the Victorian guidelines.
Bass Coast
Cafe and restaurant owners in the Bass Coast are pleading with locals to support their hospitality venues ahead of lockdown.
Hotel Phillip Island said it was set to lose a minimum of $15,000 in the next 24 hours due to bookings cancellations, wages and food wastage.
Assistant manager Shandy Phillips said he hoped lockdown was not extended so trading could return to normal by the long weekend.
“That’s our main concern for loss of business,” Mr Phillips said.
“But we will stay open this weekend for takeaway and delivery.”
Mr Phillips said in lockdown last year, the business lost around 90 per cent of sales.
San Remo’s My 24/7 Gym director Paul Cooper said to face another seven-day lockdown was frustrating.
“We completely understand that this pandemic is far from over and just how quickly things can escalate after an outbreak,” he said.
“After three previous complete shutdowns, we are now well prepared for the lockdown process.”
Mr Cooper said the family based business was in a “lucky position”.
“Our members have stood by us and after every lockdown they have resumed their membership and supported our gym,” he said.
Phillip Island Helicopters marketing manager Lauren Mitchell said the business would close for the seven-day lockdown period.
“We are very busy on most weekends so being closed on the weekend will impact the bottom line considerably,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Although we support the lockdowns and understand the reasoning behind the decisions, it is certainly disappointing and starting to take a toll on the staff.”
When the lockdown was announced, people in Bass Coast rushed to supermarkets to gather stock as panic buying began.
Queues have started at Woolworths in Wonthaggi with some customers already wearing face masks before it becomes mandatory on Friday.
Bass Coast Shire Council have closed surrounding roads near Wonthaggi Hospital to help with traffic flow for Covid-19 testing.
Warrnambool
Warrnambool’s Tilly Divine Kitchen and Bar owner Rachael Street broke down while explaining how devastating the a fourth lockdown would be.
“We can’t believe it’s all happening again, there’s been a few tears to tell you the truth,” she said.
Ms Street opened Tilly Divine on March 20 last year, just three days before Victoria’s first lockdown.
She said all three lockdowns had been difficult and she remains unsure whether to remain open for takeaways this time around.
“Me and my mum will operate tomorrow and probably Saturday and just see how it goes,” she said.
“During the last lockdown, the snap lockdown, the street was so dead. There wasn’t a soul around.”
The Hampden Football Netball League issued a statement saying no decision had been made on the results of round 7 matches scheduled for this weekend.
“Such decisions will be announced in due course once the HFNL executive, in consultation with member clubs have had a chance to consider available options,” the statement read.
The HNFL has also been forced to postpone its Netball Umpire Appreciation round until later in the season.
“The HFNL remains committed to remaining agile and transparent as we continue to face the challenges of Covid-19,” the statement said.
“We hope that all members of the HFNL community remain safe, and look forward to seeing football and netball resume soon when it is safe to do so.”
Warrnambool Mayor Vicki Jellie said the lockdown would be frustrating but urged people to follow the health advice.
“We must remember that covid-19 has claimed the lives of more than 800 Victorians,” she said.
“It’s a time to think about friends, family and doing our bit to help stop the spread of what is a deadly virus”.
Cr Jellie urged people to continue to safely support local businesses during the lockdown.
“We saw how brilliantly Warrnambool businesses were able to adapt during the lockdowns last year,” she said.
“If a business is permitted to provide deliveries or a click and collect service then I’d encourage everyone to once again ‘get around Warrnambool’ and support them.”
Mildura
An economy-boosting national junior baseball tournament that brought visitors from across Australia to Mildura was immediately halted after Thursday’s announcement.
Teams had come from Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and other parts of Victoria for the Australian Intermediate League Championship, which was abruptly cancelled.
Baseball Australia was working with teams and stakeholders to ensure all teams could leave Mildura as soon as possible.
Mildura Regional Development chief executive Brett Millington took some comfort from the lockdown being outside a school holiday period but said businesses would “certainly” feel the impact.
Mr Millington said overall expenditure in the region declined during the February five-day lockdown but then recovered in March.
“It bounced back really solidly to the extent we saw spending about $10 million above what might normally happen (in March),” he said.
The concern was that another lockdown will shift perceptions for those considering a holiday in Victoria, he said.
Compared to past lockdowns, Mr Millington said the exposure site in Cohuna – at netball fixtures against nearby Tooleybuc-Manangatang – tempered reactions in Mildura.
“While people will be frustrated – and I’m certainly frustrated – there’s probably a bit more understanding this time because there was a case closer to home,” he said.
Bendigo
Businesses are not the only collateral damage from the latest lockdown. A Bendigo bride’s wedding bells have been also been silenced.
Teaghan Blyton said her plans to marry her fiance Dylan Lefevre on a family farm this Saturday had been shattered by the latest lockdown.
The 25-year-old had hoped to reunite her family who had been separated for more than a year by Australia’s border shut downs.
Ms Blyton said many family members had not yet met her 11-month-old boy, Noah, who was also going to be the wedding’s ring bearer.
Their five-year-old Alexis was going to be their flower girl.
Ms Blyton said the intimate gathering of 50 family and friends was organised in two months, rushed so her future father-in-law and grandmother could attend.
“His father has terminal cancer and nan is unwell,” she said.
“The wedding was to keep their heads up and keep going.
“We moved up the wedding and rushed it along so they could be there and be involved.”
Ms Blyton said her “covid battleplan” was had been planned in January when “there were no cases, everything was looking good”.
But that all changed this week, with 34 active cases confirmed and more than a hundred exposure sites across the state on Thursday.
The Covid-19 threat has not been contained to the city, with a potential covid-positive test in Ballarat, three Central Victorian exposure sites, and numerous businesses closed for deep cleaning.
Hairfolk was one of the regional exposure sites announced this week.
Eight Bendigo hairdressers were tested after a covid-positive customer visited Hairfolk on Saturday May 22.
“A client came into the salon for less than two minutes to purchase product,” Hairfolk Bendigo posted on social media.
On Thursday the salon confirmed all eight staff returned negative results.
The City of Greater Bendigo mayor Jennifer Alden said the difficult lockdown was necessary “to break the cycle of transmission”.
Cr Alden said it was time for Bendigo residents to once again support the region’s businesses through the lockdown.
“Last year we ran a successful ‘love your local’ campaign to remind our community to support our local small businesses,” Cr Alden said.
“They will again acutely feel the impact of this lockdown and anything we can do to support them, from cups of coffee to take away meals or click and collect retail, it is so important that we do what we can.
“Stay safe and look after one another. We have been here before and we can do it again.”
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