JIM WILSON, HOST: Up to $10 000 is available for small businesses and hospitality venues which have seen a reduction in turnover, but many don’t qualify. Well the Federal Member for Macquarie Susan Templeman got in touch with me. She says businesses in her electorate have fallen through the cracks because of the loophole. Susan Templeman is on the line this afternoon, g’day Susan.
SUSAN TEMPLEMAN, MEMBER FOR MACQUARIE: Hello Jim.
WILSON: Thanks for your time. What’s this loophole which will leave businesses in your electorate high and dry?
TEMPLEMAN: Well one of them is some of the businesses are just too small to qualify. They don’t meet the $75 000 turn over requirement. So they’re small businesses, and I’ve got to tell you, when I was in business, I started out as a small business that wouldn’t have met this criteria. But that doesn’t mean that the money they generate and the income they bring to their owners isn’t significant. So there are lots of really small businesses who might make $70 000 a year – it’s not what they make it’s what they turn over – so they might turn over $70 000 a year – but if you don’t turn over $75 000 you miss out. And that’s anything from – for instance I have a Massage Therapist who does some lymphedema, cancer patient massage, and he won’t meet the criteria. I have a dance fitness teacher who is juggling motherhood and a new business, she’s not going to meet the criteria. So that’s a really big gap in it, for the small businesses.
WILSON: I suppose the other point to make here – you’ve got an example of a business in Wentworth Falls for example, this Schwartz’ Bakery and Patisserie. They stocked up on $50 000 worth of products ahead of the current school holidays. I mean, $10 000 doesn’t go near what they’re going to lose.
TEMPLEMAN: No, and that’s the other group who is telling me that they’re going to miss out. It’s the medium size businesses who were stocking up. Cafes, restaurants, all sorts of Blue Mountains businesses excepting an absolutely booming July school holidays, a perfect time of year to come to the Blue Mountains – and to top it all its been glorious weather – and they anticipated a much greater number of people coming through the doors. So Nick at Schwartz’ stocked up, about $50 000 in stock. Now, this isn’t stuff you can return. These are things that won’t keep. So that kind of business. Plus, the sort of business that has a big wages bill, like one of the beauty and hairdressing businesses in Richmond. When you’ve got a $16 000 a week wages bill, $10 000 doesn’t scratch the surface on your losses, the money you’ve already spent, the outgoings you’ll have and the loss of income. All because – I mean people accept that there’s COVID in the community and we need people to stay at home - but you’ve got to support businesses to get through this period.
WILSON: So what’s your next move? What options have you got available? Would you lobby the Federal Government for example to aid small businesses who don’t qualify?
TEMPLEMAN: Well that is one of the obvious big gaps. There is no federal government support for small business. They have provided a small amount for workers, for workers that don’t have any other entitlements from their employer or who are casual. So all we can do is say to the Federal Government, ‘how can you leave the heavy lifting to the states on this? Not just in NSW but across the country’. You know, it’s the failure of an effective vaccine roll out that’s landed us where we are and that’s a federal responsibility. So how can the federal government walk away from its responsibilities to small businesses? We want these small businesses to still be here when things get back to normal. We really want there to be a thriving tourism sector because that’s key to the Blue Mountains lifeblood economically, but it won’t happen if we don’t get support. Either more support at a state level or gee – lets have the Federal Government step up.
WILSON: You just mentioned Richmond. Talk about some of your communities in your electorate in Macquarie who have done it tough – both with the pandemic and recent floods. How is the rebuild going and the recovery going after the floods in March?
TEMPLEMAN: Well I think it all feeds in probably to why there’s a sense of despair that the school holidays have turned out the way they have, because things are pretty tough. Still for the bushfire areas that are still recovering and trying to get back economically. But for floods its been just over three months. Riverbanks still look like they’ve been eroded away. State Government is very slowly working t
