No clarity around who received Tasmania’s taxpayer-funded stimulus business grants

Premier Peter Gutwein has been grilled over his flat refusal to reveal a “highly distressing” list of businesses that received COVID-19 grants to keep them afloat during the pandemic. EXCHANGE + RESPONSE >>

• Govt won’t reveal ‘highly distressing’ list of businesses who received $26M in pandemic grants
• Government announces $20m in new business stimulus grants

THE Premier is standing firm by the government’s decision to withhold the names of those who received $26 million worth of taxpayer-funded stimulus grants, saying businesses would be upset if their details would be revealed.

Applicants for several rounds of government handouts agreed that their details could be made public as part of the application process.

Premier Peter Gutwein at a coronavirus government update. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

But Premier Peter Gutwein said bureaucrats had decided releasing the information might make upset some — despite nobody thinking to ask applicants if their written approval still stood.

The information will be provided in secret to a parliamentary committee whose members will be prohibited from releasing details or talking about what they have seen.

“These decisions were made at arm’s length from the government and provided to people that were in a significant distressed state in terms of their business,” he said.

“A decision has been made that we don’t want to wait to do that.”

Mr Gutwein said the government’s position was based on balancing the need for transparency with the desire to avoid causing additional distress or struggling business owners.

“Around the country for years, governments have provided grant funds and they make available the names.

“This is a different set of circumstances. This is one out of the box, and the government has made a decision, based on advice that the right thing to do is not to provide further distress to those people.

“We had a lot of businesses that were in financial distress. And so we’re doing what we think is the right thing here.

David O’Byrne

Labor’s Treasury spokesman David O’Byrne said he has concerns about the administration of the grants schemes.

“Labor understands the hardship experienced by the business community and notes the concerns some have expressed about disclosing details,” he said.

“But nobody is going to judge businesses for seeking help while they are struggling during a global pandemic.

“The grant application documents make it very clear that there is an expectation of accountability for how public money is spent, and applicants were made aware that the information may be made public.

“This is an extraordinary example of the government’s lack of transparency and the Premier cannot use COVID-19 as an excuse for its decision to keep these details secret.”

Greens leader Cassy O'Connor. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said there was no excuse for the secrecy.

“The issue here is that secrecy is deep in their DNA, they can’t help it.

“We can’t tell if they’re hiding something because what they’re doing is hiding the information.

“That’s the standard operating procedure from the Liberal government.

“It’s important to remember when government hands out taxpayers money to private interests, there needs to be maximum transparency, otherwise you reduce trust in the community and it does pave the way for maladministration of public funds and potentially even corruption

“We don’t want to see that here in Tasmania.”

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