Hospitality industry peak body calls for voucher scheme to promote spending

PRESSURE is building on the Gunner Government to provide a hospitality voucher scheme to give the sector a critical kick along to stop businesses falling over the post ‘coronavirus cliff’.

Emily Hazrati serves a much-anticipated pint of beer at Shenannigans in Darwin. Picture: Che Chorley

PRESSURE is building on the Gunner Government to provide a hospitality voucher scheme to give the sector a critical kick along to stop businesses falling over the post “coronavirus cliff”.

The sector’s peak body also says a coronavirus-free Territory warrants consideration for the planned June 5 easing of restrictions to be abandoned and brought forward immediately so that workers could get their jobs back.

Hospitality NT chief executive officer Alex Bruce told the NT News a voucher scheme that encouraged Territorians to go out and spend at cafes, restaurants, pubs, and clubs would go a long way to helping keep people in their jobs.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner did not rule out a voucher scheme last night, saying he “will never rule out doing whatever it takes to help Territory businesses”.

Mr Bruce said: “Anything that encourages locals to spend more, especially when we are missing those two million tourists to the Territory, has to be looked at.

“If you want to prevent what happened to Manoli’s from happening to others a hospitality voucher stimulus scheme is one way to help.”

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Mr Bruce said just as the tradie scheme had encouraged Territorians to spend, a hospitality voucher scheme would have the same effect.

“The end of JobKeeper unfortunately seems like it will be a bit of a cliff for restaurants so if the locals have an incentive to go out and support them ahead of that you’ll stave more off from falling over,” he said.

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“If you could have a voucher scheme to encourage people to stay in accommodation and also then go dine out, that’s great too.

“It would be great if all levels of government could look hard at a voucher incentive scheme to help businesses and their workers.”

Mr Gunner said Territory businesses in the hospitality sector had been doing it tough through the coronavirus pandemic and it was critical Government takes the hit, businesses don’t go to the wall and Territorians keep working. “I’ve been working with the hospitality industry and I’ve said before that any scheme we are asked to support must be fair, must work, can’t be ripped off and is easy to administer,” he said.

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Mr Bruce said the success of the weekend’s return to in-house dining and drinking also made a good case for the June 5 lifting of further restrictions to be brought forward. “The sooner people are given their jobs back the better,” Mr Bruce said.

“There is no coronavirus up here. This is about conditioning people’s behaviour that the NT Government wants to see and we’re saying Territorians have got the big tick for that.

“There will always be a few that will need to be targeted but we really are ready to go to the next level.

“Why would you wait another two weeks, to let more people get their jobs back? They need their jobs back now.

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What’s the health justification when the coronavirus is not in the Territory.

Look we understand once the borders are open these thing will flex up and back.

“However while the borders are hard closed and coronavirus is not up here, everything is geared towards making Territorians behave a certain way and we say they are already doing it, so why are you stopping jobs coming back online?”