Bunnings’ confidential business research that Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews ‘ignored’

A confidential research report commissioned by Bunnings highlighted that keeping busy was essential to ‘staying sane’ during the tight stage-four regulations.

A COVID mural is seen in Southbank during stage four COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne. Picture: David Crosling

A confidential research report commissioned by hardware giant Bunnings and handed to the Victorian government highlighted that keeping busy was essential to “staying sane” during the tight stage-four regulations.

It also found people in Melbourne were getting increasingly frustrated, with more than a third surveyed saying more should be done to ease restrictions.

The survey and report, conducted by Quantum Market Research and obtained by The Australian, found most Victorians who intended to complete at least one home-improvement activity in the months to come indicated that doing so would contribute positively to their mental health.

Women were significantly likelier than men to feel more lonely as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions (54 per cent versus 44 per cent men), as were those aged 18 to 39 (62 per cent), the report found.

Retail research report retail report

This was combined with the survey’s finding that most Victorians believed Bunnings demonstrated high levels of com­pli­ance with COVID-safety rules and regulations, and nine in 10 agreed that when stores such as Bunnings actively enforced things such as mask wearing and social distancing, it reinforced that everyone should be following the rules.

However, it was this report and others handed to the Victorian government in recent weeks as it conducted consultation to create a pathway out of stage-four restrictions that many business leaders believe were ultimately ignored.

Furthermore, there is growing disquiet among business and industry leaders into the way consultation between Victorian govern­ment ministers and business representatives took place, with meetings called without much notice and almost 100 people joining a conference call.

These consultations took the form of “information sessions” rather than two-way conversations about dragging the Victorian economy out of its suffocating restrictions, according to those who attended the meetings. That frustration boiled over on Sunday when Wesfarmers chief executive Rob Scott and Bunnings boss Michael Schneider hit out at the Victorian government for what they saw as a failure to engage meaningfully with business.

“In Victoria, Wesfarmers businesses employ around 30,000 team members and we have not had any meaningful engagement with the government around retail operations and nor any feedback as to whether our retail network presents any risks to the community,’’ Mr Scott said after Premier Daniel Andrews released his plans to extract the state from stage-four restrictions.

On Monday, Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said the reopening plan released on Sunday was a “long, long, long way from where we need to be”. “And that means more job losses, it means business will fail, it will mean some businesses leave Victoria,” Ms Westacott said.

“We want to work with (state government) to say, well, why is it that a business that’s got a COVIDSafe plan can’t open where they haven’t got any transmission? Why is it that a region that has got zero cases, that hasn’t had any cases, why can’t they go to a more comprehensive opening? How do we get more predictability in this?”

The report prepared by Quantum and commissioned by Wesfarmers-owned Bunnings survey­ed 1005 Victorian shoppers between August 21 and 26, before Mr Andrews issued his pathway from stage-four restrictions.

The report concludes there is a strong link between remaining active while enduring home isolation and maintaining mental health, but also that those surveyed believed the large-format store should be able to create a COVID-19 safe environment.

Online shopping boom

With its stores closed to non-tradie shoppers, Bunnings has witnessed a boom in online shopping, but it said buying online was not always the most efficient way to shop.

The survey found 63 per cent of Victorians agreed that keeping busy was essential to “staying sane”, while 69 per cent said the staying home restrictions presented a good opportunity to get some jobs done around the house.

Most Victorians (82 per cent) who intended to complete at least one home-improvement activity in the months to come indicated that doing so would contribute positively to their mental health.

A visit to Bunnings noticeably improved the health and wellbeing of two in five (41 per cent) Victorians, while 92 per cent would be at least somewhat comfortable visiting a Bunnings store, post-stage four restrictions.

Most Victorians said Bunnings demonstrated high levels of compliance with COVID safety rules and regulations. In addition, 87 per cent agreed that when stores such as Bunnings enforced personal hygiene measures such as mask wearing and social distancing, it reminded everyone to follow the rules. Three in four (72 per cent) agreed that Bunnings stores “are large enough to make social distancing easy”.

The report also found as the pandemic continued and its impacts intensified, there was an increasing sense of burden, partic­ularly among those juggling work and children.

“The need to feel comfortable at home has become more necessary than ever. Bunnings has a significant role to play in support this activity and helping Victorians manage their mental health,’’ the report says. “The availability of resources from Bunnings encourages Victorians to stay at home and invest in those home projects.”

However, it says despite consumers demonstrating a clear desire for Bunnings to reopen if res­trictions ease, they do not feel excep­tions should be made for the chain if restrictions are extended.