Swift action for Riverland business support

On behalf of the Riverland business community, the South Australian Business Chamber welcomes the $51.6m announced by Premier Malinauskas today.

The South Australian Business Chamber Chief Executive Andrew Kay says that the government’s response reflects the urgency that he heard from businesses when visiting the region last week.

When emergency situations like this happen, the business community need support that is simple to obtain and readily accessible for a broad range of operators.

The grants of up to $50k for business owners should be delivered immediately and without unnecessary red tape to support businesses with the costs of bringing levees up to a certified engineering standard.

The Early Business Closure Grant will go some way to support those businesses who are now without trade for the foreseeable future because of the floods and also those affected by cuts to power supply.

We hope that there is a plentiful supply of generators available for Riverland businesses. It would be a good additional support if the government would provide a temporary fuel subsidy to run them too.

In our report on the impact of the COVID-19 July lockdown, businesses revealed that up to 80 per cent of business operators or their teams suffered a mental health impact as a result. Therefore, the $1m in mental health support will absolutely be necessary to support everyone in the Riverland right now.

Previous rounds of the accommodation/​tourism vouchers had a really positive impact across South Australia and particularly in the CBD. The $1.1 million for a tourism marketing campaign is an excellent initiative, but I would encourage South Australians not to wait until post floods to visit as the Riverland is looking absolutely beautiful right now, and these businesses need their support while the region is still open.”