Victoria’s recovery lagging behind rest of the country

While other states bounce back from the pandemic with confidence, new figures reveal Victorian businesses continue to struggle.

Victoria’s business recovery is lagging behind the rest of the country, new figures reveal.

Australian Taxation Office data showed by the end of last year there were still more than 650,000 Victorians having their wages subsidised through the JobKeeper scheme, down from 1.1 million earlier in the year.

The 44 per cent drop between October and December in Victoria paled in comparison with the 60 per cent fall in NSW and the 70 per cent plunge in WA.

The numbers, which show for the first time how regions and industries have recovered since the first shutdown in March, indicate how Victorian businesses have continued to struggle following the second wave of infections

Geelong bounced back better than most parts of Victoria with a 56 per cent fall, while the tourism-reliant Mornington Peninsula dragged with 41 per cent.

An empty shop in Prahran. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ David Crosling

Josh Frydenberg said it was encouraging to see more than 500,000 businesses, employing 2.13 million people across the country, had moved off JobKeeper.

“These improvements have been broad based across the country and we have seen encouraging signs across all sectors,” the Treasurer said.

“We know that some families and businesses are still doing it tough and my message to those people is that the Morrison government continues to have your back”

He said the focus for the government was getting people back into jobs.

Retail experienced the biggest bounce-back over the period, with a 68 per cent drop, while about one in five food workers around the country were still having their pay packets assisted.

The government is expected to seize on promising figures from some sectors as it argues the scheme does not need to be prolonged past its March 31 expiry date.

But it is understood more targeted help is being developed to support struggling parts of the economy, including the tourism sector that has been particularly hard hit.

Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus has called for the wage subsidy scheme to be extended until the end of the pandemic.

The powerful union figure said places like Melbourne and north Queensland had been “really smashed” over the past 12 months due to drops in tourism and international students.

As the debate over how to revive the economy heats up, federal Labor will this week launch a new attack advertisement against the government’s proposed changes to industrial relations laws.

It argues the changes will slash workers’ rights and reduce wages.

@tamsinroses