Victoria should be granted an extra two months of jobkeeper payments to allow its economy, reeling from suburb lockdowns and the closure of the New South Wales border, to catch up with the rest of the country, the state’s peak business body says.
The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said a six-week return to strict conditions on movement, imposed on the entire Melbourne metropolitan region by the state government on Tuesday will be the “final straw” for many businesses that are already struggling.
Nationally, the aviation sector has also renewed its calls for jobkeeper payments to continue past the Morrison government’s cut-off date of the end of September after the border closure threw into chaos plans by Qantas and Virgin Australia to restart their coronavirus-battered businesses.
Adding to the confusion, permits allowing freight, farmers and residents of border communities to cross over were not available on Tuesday, just hours before the border’s scheduled closure at midnight.
The chamber’s chief executive, Paul Guerra, said his organisation had previously thought jobkeeper should expire at the end of September, and be replaced with support packages for specific industries that continued to suffer from the effects of the Covid-19 economic shutdown.
But on Tuesday he said the VCCI’s position was shifting now that it appeared Victoria – which is at least six weeks behind Western Australia in reopening the economy – appeared in danger of slipping further behind.
“Assuming we are two months behind the other states, our view would be that Victoria should be cut an additional two months of jobkeeper,” he said.
He said VCCI supported Daniel Andrews’ decision on Tuesday to put metropolitan Melbourne back under stage three restrictions, which bar people leaving home except for work, study, exercise or shopping, for six weeks.
The premier said the decision, made after a surge in Covid-19 infection numbers, would lead some businesses that had reopened to close and some hospitality businesses to revert to offering takeaway only.
Guerra said VCCI would help support businesses hammered by the fresh shutdown.
“Melbourne businesses and workers will once again be asked to bear the brunt of the Covid-19 crisis, and we know this will be the final straw for some,” he said.
He said he asked the Victorian government on Monday to put border communities straddling the Murray River, such as Albury-Wodonga and Echuca Moama, in “bubbles” and treat them as if they were in NSW for the purposes of the closure.
“If they were to stop people on the border, which is the bridge, it would choke up the whole town,” he said.
Unions and employers in the aviation sector – excluding Australia’s flag carrier Qantas – wrote to the federal government on Tuesday repeating calls for employment support for the industry to be extended beyond the end of jobkeeper until companies are back on their feet.
The Transport Workers’ Union national secretary, Michael Kaine, who has consistently campaigned for more government support, said the closure of the Victoria-NSW border was bad for Qantas and its smaller, financially stricken rival, Virgin Australia.
“Both of those companies have, at the very least, been literally banking on borders becoming progressively less restrictive and literally forward booking and starting to increase workloads and job capacity in response to that,” he said.
“So every time we have this kind of setback, we have a direct correlation with business viability, and of course with that comes concerns for workers and their jobs.”
The closure is particularly bad for Virgin Australia, which is in the process of being sold to US private equity group Bain Capital – a sale that is already being challenged by bondholders owed about $2bn by the debt-laden airline.
The Australian Industry Group chief executive, Innes Willox, said the border closure would pull the rug out from under the economic recovery and spark chaos.
“The border closure puts up a Berlin Wall between our two biggest states, which represent more than half our national economy, and cuts in two our country’s main economic artery,” he said.
“It is a sledgehammer approach when what is required is focused strategy that is community and hot-spot based and not based on arbitrary borders that split communities.”
Freight haulers, farmers and residents of communities that straddle the border will be able to apply for permits allowing them to cross between the states.
But as of early Tuesday afternoon, the NSW government was yet to open online permit applications.
“More information, including details on how to apply for a permit, will be available on this page soon,” government agency Service NSW said online.
The border closure comes on top of the Victorian government’s decision last week to lock down a dozen Melbourne postcodes following a dramatic increase in coronavirus cases.
It came just as businesses were beginning to re-emerge from hibernation after statewide restrictions were lifted.
Guerra said some business owners in locked-down suburbs had decided to close down.
“People have made the assessment that with it unknown how long the lockdown will go on for, they won’t trade through,” he said.
“The bigger impact is that as businesses close you’ve got more people put on jobseeker.”
The effect was also flowing through to businesses including distributors and wholesalers that service hard-hit sectors such as hospitality, he said.
“All that means is that more people are stood down.”
With Australian Associated Press
