Premier Daniel Andrews unveils $3bn business support
Tens of thousands of struggling Victorian employers will receive cash grants, payroll tax relief and cashflow support under $3bn in assistance.
Tens of thousands of struggling Victorian employers will receive cash grants, payroll tax relief and cashflow support under $3bn in assistance hailed by Daniel Andrews as the biggest package of business support in the state’s history.
Declaring the “massive investment” was necessary given the COVID-19 challenges facing business, the Victorian Premier said grants of $10,000 to $30,000 would flow to thousands of companies while employers with payrolls of up to $10m would have payroll tax bill deferred by 12 months at a cost of $1.7bn.
“It is an unprecedented set of challenges that businesses face,” Mr Andrews said. “We want to get to the other side and we want to make sure that, yes, we have protected lives but we have also protected livelihoods.”
Industry groups broadly welcomed the support but ramped up calls for a faster easing of restrictions while the restaurant sector and the union movement urged the retention of a higher JobKeeper rate in Victoria.
Ahead of briefing Scott Morrison on the state assistance on Sunday, Mr Andrews pressed his case for extra federal support, highlighting the Prime Minister’s comment “we’re all Victorians”.
“I think every Victorian should take comfort — I certainly do — in the constant commentary coming from the Prime Minister to me that hardship has always driven their policy response,” he said.
Mr Andrews said it was up to the federal government to decide on further assistance in the budget but “if hardship drives your policy, then obviously there’s more hardship here than other parts of the country and hopefully that will be reflected (in the budget)”.
Mr Morrison welcomed the Victorian package and noted that in the three months until the end of 2020, 1.36 million Australians living in Victoria would receive $10.9bn in JobKeeper support, more than 60 per cent of all JobKeeper payments across the country. “Victoria is where the need is greatest at the moment because of the scale of the outbreak that has occurred and that is why the majority of payments will be made in Victoria,” he said.
Mr Morrison said the federal government would make further announcements about existing and new federal programs to support “our economic recovery across the country in the weeks ahead”.
“All of these will further aid not just the Victorian economy but the national economy more broadly, keeping Australians in jobs and businesses in business,” he said.
Josh Frydenberg welcomed the state government’s announcement of extra economic support for businesses “who are really hurting as a result of Victoria’s second wave”.
“The Morrison government will continue to be there for Victorians at this challenging time, with $27bn of economic support already distributed to households and businesses through JobKeeper, the CashFlow Boost and other measures,” the Victorian-based federal Treasurer said.
“With the expansion and extension of JobKeeper, around $11bn will go to Victorians in the December quarter from that one program alone, and there will be more Victorians on JobKeeper than from all the other states and territories combined.”
Under the new package, which takes the state government’s business support to more than $6bn, about 75,000 businesses with payrolls up to $10m will receive grants of $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000 depending on their size. Total cost of the grants will be $1.1bn while a separate $251m Licenced Venue Fund will be set up to distribute grants of between $10,000 and $30,000 for bars, restaurants, pubs, clubs, hotels and reception centres. Liquor licence fees will be waived for 2021.
As trips to Victorian ski fields have not been possible in 2020, businesses in alpine resorts will receive grants of up to $20,000 to help cover resort fees. Further grants will be made available to employers to help “find their feet in a COVID-normal world”.
To date, almost 20,000 Victorian businesses have received payroll tax refunds in the last financial year worth more than $540m, and thousands more received a full waiver.
Payroll tax for businesses with payrolls up to $10m will be deferred for the 2020-21 financial year, providing a $1.7bn “cashflow boost for businesses”.
Australian Industry Group Victorian director Tim Piper welcomed the measures but said the government’s decision not to waive payroll payments for the current financial year was “extremely” disappointing.
Restaurant and Catering Australia chief executive Wes Lambert applauded the package but said the federal government should maintain the current JobKeeper rate in Victoria, given the need to support employers and workers. “Ultimately, Victoria will have been closed for all practical purposes for eight months, with just a few weeks in the middle,” he said. “Many businesses will benefit from the grants … but when businesses have been closed for so long, it must be part of a larger focus on the hardest-hit industry in Australia. ”
Mr Lambert said the industry would continue to press the state government for a faster easing of restrictions to allow businesses to reopen sooner, saying case number targets were not workable.
Mr Piper said the government should “remove the impossible targets for restriction easing”.
Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari said, however, that unions remained supportive of the current timetable for lifting restrictions, and expressed strong backing for the support package.
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