Berwick Motor Group’s Nick Strauss will have to sack dozens of workers without JobKeeper 2.0

Car dealer Nick Strauss says it is an ‘absolute fait accompli’ that he will have to sack a quarter of staff if he remains ineligible.

Berwick Motor Group owner Nick Strauss says tax write-offs led to an unexpectedly good June quarter, which now means he can’t claim JobKeeper 2.0. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Car dealer Nick Strauss says it is an “absolute fait accompli” that he will have to sack at least a quarter of his workers after September 27 if he remains ineligible for JobKeeper 2.0.

The chief executive of Berwick Motor Group, based in Melbourne, qualified for the first phase of the wage subsidy scheme and managed to keep his 140 employee­s on the books, but because­ of a tougher eligibility test under the second phase is anticipat­ing “Armageddon”.

To receive JobKeeper 2.0 from September 28, a business must show its turnover has fallen 30 per cent or more in both the June and September quarters compared with the same time last year. For large businesses earning more than $1bn, turnover must have reduced by half.

With Melbourne struggling through a six-week lockdown, Mr Strauss said his business would meet the turnover test for the September­ quarter but its revenue declined by 24 per cent in the June quarter because of higher-than-expected sales before the end of the financial year.

“June blew the industry out of the water,” Mr Strauss told The Weekend Australian. “The industry was artificially on steroids becaus­e of the pent-up demand.

“Not only that, the government’s tax write-off scheme, which was originally meant to be until the 30th of June, all of the tradies and people came out spending money because it was a good incentive. Then they (the government) extended that until the end of December.”

Berwick Motor Group’s turnover declined by 53 per cent and 68 per cent in April and May but increased by 104 per cent in June.

“Without JobKeeper 2.0, it is an absolute fait accompli that I will not be standing down but retrenchin­g, sacking, making redundant between 25-30 per cent (of workers),” Mr Strauss said.

“All we’re doing is passing them from my payroll to the governmen­t’s payroll. They will have to go onto government benefits­ (JobSeeker).”

Under the current JobKeeper scheme, employers had to show a turnover fall of 30 per cent over a four-week period.