The Prime Minister’s announcement to extend COVID-19 support to the unemployed and to business employees is sensible and welcomed by COSBOA and its members.
Peter Strong, CEO of COSBOA, said “This should provide some certainty in what have been unpredictable times, especially with the 2nd wave of COVID-19 infections continuing in Victoria and clusters emerging in New South Wales.”
"Tuesday’s announcement also fixes anomalies in the support that emerged through its rapid implementation and we understand that was needed. We know the best situation is for people to be employed, and continuing JobKeeper payments allows that to happen."
"Small business has always been resilient and adaptive, but this is a huge task given the economic impact will be widespread. The biggest challenge is going to be getting people to stay in work, especially when there is less income in the business."
Mr Strong added “There will be many questions around JobKeeper 2.0. We expect some new anomalies to occur and small business will have plenty of questions. Our experience with the first version and the ATO was positive and we expect that to continue.”
The long and winding road to recovery will be lined with thriving small businesses, smart manufacturers, innovative service providers, high tech solutions and advanced agricultural enterprise, all contributing to our local communities. Now is the time to provide them with what they need to survive this pandemic, stay afloat and lead our recovery.
Mr Strong also added “this announcement comes close on the announcement on skills development and housing assistance. We commend the government for its on-going responses and recommend they continue to engage with industry associations to ensure the responses are fit for purpose.
Mr Strong concluded "The importance of small businesses to thriving local communities cannot be underestimated and the power to protect those communities rests with everyone. We can all take action to support small businesses directly if we GO LOCAL FIRST. Spending with local businesses helps support them through this period of uncertainty."
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See our Long and Winding Road to Recovery document here.
Learn more about the Go Local First campaign here.