Action plan to save Tasmanian hospitality jobs as JobKeeper payments drop

The viability of many businesses will be under threat when JobKeeper changes come into effect, the hospitality association has warned as it prepares to launch a plan to save the industry.

CAFES, bars and restaurants would return almost to normal practice – including drinks standing up at the pub – under an action plan to save thousands of jobs and revive Tasmania’s hospitality sector.

The 14-point action plan will be handed to the State Government on Monday – the same day JobKeeper payments will be reduced or cut-off for 54,000 Tasmanian workers and 15,000 local businesses.

The Tasmanian Hospitality Association has drafted the action plan, which recommends scrapping the one person per two square metres rule for venues while borders remain shut to boost the number of patrons allowed inside.

The plan will also push for Tasmanians to be allowed to drink while standing up in pubs again.

If restrictions are not eased, while the state is virus-free and borders remain closed, the plan calls for more relief for hospitality businesses on operating costs such as energy bills.

“Our fear is .. there’s a large amount of venues that are going to be ineligible for JobKeeper from Monday, which is going to put the viability of a lot of restaurants, especially high-end restaurants, in a real danger,” THA chief executive Steve Old told the Sunday Tasmanian.

“Over the last five to 10 years hospitality has just taken off.

“Tasmania has become a destination to come to and we can’t afford to lose some of these high-end restaurants and [businesses] that are in jeopardy if they’re not eligible for JobKeeper moving forward.”

The Tasmanian Hospitality Association wants restrictions eased on the state’s hospitality businesses.

Many struggling venues are expected to narrowly miss out on being eligible for JobKeeper 2.0, and it could put foodie hubs and cafe strips across Tasmania at risk.

“I think the food precincts in Hobart and Launceston have just taken off in leaps and bounds over the last couple of years and it would be a shame to lose that,” Mr Old said.

“We’re really calling for the government to ease restrictions on our venues now.

“If they’re not going to ease restrictions and allow venues to trade properly then they’re going to have to provide stimulus and other assistance to the industry to make those venues viable.”

Tasmania’s worst-hit businesses, whose turnover is still down 30 per cent or more, can reapply for another three to six months of JobKeeper to help pay staff wages.

But the payments will drop on Monday from a flat rate of $1500-a-fortnight to $1200 or $750 for employees who worked less than 20 hours before the virus under a new two-tier system to wean businesses off the taxpayer-funded support.

The wage subsidy will continue at the new rate until the end of 2020 and then drop further to $1000 and $650 a fortnight from January until the end of March.

Tasmanian businesses have received about $843 million under the scheme so far.

Tasmanian Hospitality Association chief Steve Old. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry boss Michael Bailey said there was no doubt JobKeeper support for the past six months had helped many businesses survive the unprecedented crisis.

“There will be an ongoing role for federal, state and local governments, but one of the best things we can do is let businesses trade again, reduce restrictions and restore links to other jurisdictions that have COVID under control,” he said.

“We simply cannot live in a bubble forever, because when you live in a bubble, eventually you run out of oxygen.”

Labor frontbencher Julie Collins said the reductions in JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments would “rip millions from the Tasmanian economy every week at the worst possible time” and urged the government to reconsider the changes.

“The recession will be deeper and the unemployment queues in Tasmania will be longer because Scott Morrison is pulling support from the economy too soon,” she said.

TasCOSS chief executive Adrienne Picone also pushed for the $300 reduction in the JobSeeker coronavirus supplement to be reversed.

“The increased rate of JobSeeker meant that Tasmanian job seekers, many for the first time, could cover the essentials such as fresh fruit and vegetables, medical care for both their children and themselves, and basic maintenance on the family car,” she said.

She also said the payment boost had been “a highly effective economic stimulus”.