Melbourne restaurant and cafe owners fear more job losses and closures

Business owners warn tens of thousands of jobs are at risk if the state government doesn’t remove restrictions on the hospitality sector.

Exclusive: Tens of thousands of job losses and many restaurant closures are looming unless the state government removes restrictions, business owners have warned.

Prominent restaurateurs including Chin Chin’s Chris Lucas, Florentino’s Guy Grossi and Di Stasio Citta’s Mallory Wall say job losses are imminent unless they can increase their diner capacities before the JobKeeper subsidy ends later this month.

While chefs and wait staff face unemployment, it could extend beyond this and severely impact the supply chain including butchers, bakers, winemakers and farmers.

Under the state government’s existing restrictions hospitality owners can only operate at one person per 2sq m.

New analysis from the Restaurant and Catering Association shows there are 998 eateries in Victoria with at least 20 workers, some employ more than 200.

Chief executive officer Wes Lambert said if the restrictions remain beyond JobKeeper, the state would “risk tens of thousands of jobs”.

“When JobKeeper ends we expect many businesses will have to stand down staff,” he said.

“Until businesses in Victoria get back to full unrestricted capacity many of the nearly 1000 medium and large restaurants and cafes in Victoria will likely stand down staff.”

Grossi Florentinos' partner Liz Rodriguez, Chin Chin owner Chris Lucas and Di Stasio Citta owner Mallory Wall are joined by staff members Tenika Greig, Karen Takizawa, Wachirapong Boonplook, Doug Keyte, Kullanat Arrunnapaporn and Laura Crouch. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Mr Lucas described the restrictions as like “operating with one arm tied behind our back”.

“It saddens me to see Melbourne so down and out, we are desperate to rebuild and restaurants, cafes and bars are at the centre of our culture,” he said.

“For us to be able to get back on our feet we need the restrictions lifted.

“While the government is sticking with these lockdown policies they need to realise that at some point we have to move on.”

Mr Lucas said he didn’t want to rely on government handouts.

“We want to stand on our own two feet,” he said.

Most Australian states also have the one person per 2 sqm rule.

While Mr Grossi said if the restrictions stay beyond this month, “it will be virtually impossible for restaurants to trade, we need to be able to operate at full capacity”.

“It has been catastrophic for the industry and it will be worse without JobKeeper once we don’t have it helping us,” he said.

“Our revenues need to increase so we can keep our people in work and it impacts so many people – it goes for miles.”

Cafes in the CBD slowly reopening this month. Picture: Getty Images

Di Stasio Citta’s owner Mallory Wall said the past 12 months has “been a nightmare, riding the rollercoaster of the lockdowns”.

“We’ve still come out of this with zero plan,” she said.

“The rules on capacity have changed constantly, at one point we had 10 people in one space, nothing was thought through.”

Ms Wall has about 60 staff across her two restaurants and said, “we should have let go of staff last year”.

Mr Grossi had about 150 staff before the pandemic but is not down to about 90.

Shadow minister for finance Matthew Guy said “square metre rules shouldn’t apply if contact tracing is working”.

“Melbourne was the hospitality capital of Australia, to get back to that title we can’t do it by having restrictions and a second rate contact tracing system,” he said.

“Melbourne’s restaurant scene isn’t about high-end restaurateurs, it’s about the cooks, chefs, uni students working in the kitchen or on the floor serving.”

He said every parent should be concerned the state government isn’t doing enough to ensure these hospitality jobs – particularly for younger workers – remain once JobKeeper ends.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said they are continuing to work closely with the hospitality industry and are regularly reviewing the public health measures in place.

“We understand that there are concerns for what the end of the Commonwealth Government’s JobKeeper program may mean,” she said.

“Density quotients support physical distancing, minimise close contact between people and reduce the risk of transmission.

“The chief health officer considers the epidemiological situation in Victoria and other jurisdictions as well as the local and international evidence and public health advice available at that time. ”

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