Why the AFL Grand Final eve public holiday should be dumped
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the AFL Grand Final eve holiday is staying put. But forcing crisis-hit businesses to take the day off will do more harm than good, writes Sophie Elsworth.
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Giving Victorians the day off work on AFL Grand Final eve is nonsensical.
Regardless of where the game is played this year, the public holiday will only further hit bruised and battered businesses.
While it’s all but certain the last match of the season will not be played at the MCG, Premier Daniel Andrews said the day off is staying put.
“It will still be the Friday before the Grand Final,” Mr Andrews said last week.
“That day is there (public holiday) and I’ve got no plans to change that, no matter where the Grand Final is played.
“If some in the business community want to have a crack at me today, if that makes them feel better, then fine.”
The public holiday was introduced back in 2015 so Victorians could spend it with family and friends before the Grand Final on the last Saturday in September.
For diehard footy fans, it allowed them to attend the traditional Grand Final parade in Melbourne’s CBD without having to chuck a sickie or chew up their annual leave.
In previous years the forecasted cost of the public holiday to Victorian businesses was $1.2 billion.
Right now in Victoria the private sector is under siege.
Victorians want to work and need to work.
Half of the state’s private sector employees are receiving the federal government’s JobKeeper payments.
Small businesses are in for the fight of their lives and sticking with the public holiday when it’s unlikely the Grand Final will be played here will do more harm than good.
Victorians don’t need to have the day off when they’ll be no parade and no football match here.
And when October rolls around, it’s very likely there will still be strict rules around social gatherings, preventing people from meeting in decent-sized groups anyway.
The Council of Small Business of Australia’s chief executive officer Peter Strong said the public holiday would just add “financial stress and mental stress to employers”.
Think of the hefty penalty rates those businesses who are operating will have to pay out simply because it’s deemed a public holiday.
The Grand Final eve public holiday is normally buried within the school holidays but not this year – the likely Grand Final date is October 17.
If that’s the case, the public holiday will fall on October 16 and then just 18 days later Victorians have another day off while the rest of the country goes to work. Melbourne Cup is on Tuesday, November 3.
This year is so different to any other and one thing we should add to that list is ditching the day off on Grand Final eve.