Victorians work hard and deserve two new public holidays announced for Easter Sunday and the eve of the AFL grand final, the acting minister for small business, Gavin Jennings, said.
Making the announcement on Wednesday, Jennings said the holidays would add up to $312m to the Victorian economy each year from increased spending on complementary sporting events and tourism.
It meant the state now marks more public holidays than any other jurisdiction in Australia, with a total of 13. By comparison, New South Wales has 11, and Queensland and Western Australia each have 10.
“Grand Final Friday will see Melbourne’s streets buzzing and our regions full of visitors, cementing Victoria’s reputation as Australia’s sporting capital,” Jennings said. “Victorians work hard and they deserve these public holidays.”
But an analysis provided to the government by accounting and consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers found the estimated costs of the new public holidays outweigh the quantified benefits.
“The lost production (or economic cost) from the new public holidays is estimated to be between $717m and $898m annually,” the report said.
“However, there is the potential for wider benefits to accrue to families and the broader community associated with coordinated leisure time.”
While there would be increased wage payments of between $252m and $286m annually to those people who worked on the public holidays, this would come from employers and would not have a net impact on the Victorian economy, the report found.
The introduction of Easter Sunday as a public holiday will ensure those who worked over the Easter weekend were paid fairly, the government said.
But the chief executive of the Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mark Stone, warned additional wages for the retail, accommodation, food services and recreation industries could cost small business owners $105m.
Wages could be up to 50% higher on Easter Sunday and 150% higher on the eve of the AFL grand final, he said.
The introduction of two new holidays was among Labor’s pre-election commitments.
