Struggling to stay afloat

Some local businesses are still struggling to stay afloat even though the NSW Government has extended financial support for those affected by lockdown restriction

The government announced an additional $3.9 billion in funding at the start of September to extend their JobSaver program and Micro-business grant and continue rent relief incentives.

At the time, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the funding would be vital to help keep businesses open and people in jobs.

“We are giving businesses, employees and families across the state certainty they can access the financial help needed to get them through,” Perrottet said.

“We know business and communities are doing it tough and this ongoing support will not only help get them through the depths of the pandemic but will also provide them with a springboard to bounce back once restrictions ease.”

Under the Micro-business grant, eligible businesses with a turnover of more than $30,000 and less than $75,000 that continue to experience a minimum 30 per cent decline in turnover due to the Public Health Order will be eligible for a fortnightly payment of $1,500.

Karl Herman, owner of Bombora Ettalong Beach SUP and Jim’s Cleaning Umina Beach sad he was yet to receive a cent in his bank account.

“I run two small businesses and I have lost a lot of income over the last nine weeks of lockdown,” Herman said.

“Despite this I have been unable to access the small business grants.

“My accountant calculated my loss to be just outside of the threshold as three of my clients who had fees owing for the last six months paid me all at once.

“This coupled with the fact that I was already running at a loss in both the 2020 and 2019 financial years has only added to my difficulty.

“My income was down in 2019 because of the bushfires.

“The bushfire situation and the smoke really impacted my paddle boarding business in our busiest season.

“My turnover was just under $75,000 which meant I’d again just fallen short of the criteria.

“I had called Service NSW to see if there was another way to access the funding, I received a call back a month later only to be told it would need to be sent off to another division and I will have to wait weeks for them to respond to me.

“I am yet to receive a response, and, in the meantime, I am only operating at limited capacity through my cleaning business, while my paddle boarding income is dry, and my savings are drifting away.”

Member for Gosford, Liesl Tesch, said Herman’s was an all-too-familiar story with many small businesses enduring lengthy delays for financial support.

“At a Central Coast Small Business Roundtable with Shadow Minister for Small Business Steve Kamper, many local businesses spoke of their individual circumstances not fitting the government’s criteria, as well as their concerns about a lack of road map out of lockdown,” Tesch said.

“The one-size-fits-all approach for small businesses is clearly not working and people like Karl are suffering because of it.

“The scheme has failed to recognise that during 2019 many businesses throughout the Central Coast would have had a downturn as tourists stayed away from the smoke and kept inside to protect their health.

“Not only would the Central Coast have felt those impacts but also many other regional communities, many of whom are yet to even receive the opportunity to apply for the small business grants.

“The mismanagement and slow response time is unacceptable.

“The [Government] must do more to address the gap instead of using the tick-of-the-box approach and must give very careful consideration to continuing regional business support as lockdowns end unevenly across NSW.”

Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch, said over $86 million in grant funding requests had been processed and provided to small business owners on the Coast.

“Since August 6, 408 Service NSW staff have been working around-the-clock to clear the backlog and process all funding requests,” Crouch said.

“I have been advised that nearly 100 per cent of funding requests have now been processed.

“If any Central Coast business has not heard back from Service NSW, please send me an email to terrigal@parliament.nsw.gov.au, and I will urgently raise these individual cases with Service NSW.”

More information about the range of financial support on offer to businesses and individuals through the current lockdown is available at: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/2021-covid-19-support-package.

Maisy Rae