Roofer driven up the wall over slow Home Improvement Scheme voucher payments

BUSINESSMAN Aaron Neilsen has joined the conga line of those complaining about slow Home Improvement Scheme payments from the NT government

Another Territory businessman has joined the conga line of those complaining about slow Home Improvement Scheme payments from the NT government

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BUSINESSMAN Aaron Neilsen has joined the conga line of those complaining about slow Home Improvement Scheme payments from the NT government.

Mr Neilsen owns NexGen Roofing, and says the situation has been so bad it has pushed his company to the brink. He is pleading with government to “show me the money”.

Mr Neilsen said there had been an avalanche of work as the government fast-tracked Home Improvement Scheme approvals to meet the November cut-off.

“That’s good, but the problem is that they are not paying their bills quick enough,” he said. “The bills are going in, but they are not paying them quick enough so that you have enough cash flow to get on with the next job.

“We have to be paid quicker so we can get the materials.

“Having to wait 30 days for payment in these difficult times is just too long. If you have a few jobs lined up there isn’t the cash flow to buy.”

Mr Neilsen said it had been a struggle to keep things going.

“My latest bunch of invoices have gone well past the 20-day mark,” he said.

“When it first came out we would get a receipt saying payment would be made in 14 days. That changed to you will be paid within 20 days.

“Now I don’t even get an email back telling me when I am going to get paid. I’m talking about $16,000 in money owed, and I have another $24,000 in work I have to buy material for. How do I do the work if the government isn’t paying its bills quick enough?

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“The cash flow is a serious problem. I don’t have money to pay wages.” Mr Neilsen said he ended 2019 with 12 staff members, and that had since been slashed to three. “When we started quoting on the vouchers I still had eight guys, and now it’s just me, my brother and a mate.”

The NT Chief Minister defended the scheme saying it was well past the halfway mark and more than 11,000 vouchers had been sent. He put the value to the NT economy at $90 million.