Emma McBride

Businesses Need More During Lockdown

 EMMA MCBRIDE

Local businesses are the backbone of our community. They create local jobs and they drive the economy through construction, hospitality, retail, and tourism. Thankfully, some are operational right now but unfortunately, many have been forced to wind back services or close entirely because of lockdown.

When stay-at-home orders were fi rst issued on the Central Coast during the peak school holiday period two months ago, local businesses were hit hard. They were left with bills to pay, cancellations to process and little certainty about the future.

Unfortunately, we’re now at the end of August and not much has changed.

The Government’s fi nancial support measures have been a welcome relief to many businesses, but there are countless others who are slipping through the cracks.

I heard from a local beauty therapist whose business is under the threshold for Government support and who found out through social media that her business would have to close with a few hours’ notice. She told me being forced to seek government support for the fi rst time in her life was confusing and frustrating, and the uncertainty about the length of the lockdown was adding to her stress. While her partners business did qualify for support, he hadn’t received any money by week 5 of lockdown.

Then there’s people like Ben. Ben is a local musician, studying a Bachelor of Music at the University of Newcastle. He’s a sole trader and, since he’s unable to do live performances during lockdown, he tried to apply for a business support grant. Unfortunately, he was also below the threshold for Government support. He told me, it will take a long time for the live music scene to recover from this lockdown and the eff ects of the shutdown will be felt for many years to come.

It’s devastating to see local businesses and industries suff er like this. Things are hard enough right now, without having to worry about being eligible for Government support.

Emma McBride MP at local cafe Toast & Co, The Entrance. Supporting local businesses during lockdown.

There are also hundreds of businesses who are still waiting for their applications to be processed. They need support now.

They also need a way forward. A plan for recovery and measures to help them get back on their feet.

We will get out of this lockdown, but until then we need to make sure business owners can access support when they need it. They can’t aff ord to wait.

Accessing Support

Businesses and sole traders who have been aff ected by lockdown can apply for the 2021 COVID-19 Business Grant. Grants of up to $15,000 are available for businesses who have an annual turnover of $75,000 and have seen a decline of 30 per cent or more.

This grant will cover you for the fi rst three weeks of lockdown (26 June–17 July, 2021). From week 4 of lockdown (July 18), you can also access the JobSaver scheme.

Eligible businesses will receive fortnightly payments to cover wages, rent, and utilities. The payment will be equivalent to 40 per cent of the weekly payroll, with a minimum of $1,500 available.

You can fi nd more information and apply online via Service NSW.

If you need assistance accessing Government support, you can contact my offi ce at Emma.McBride.MP@aph.gov.au.

If you need mental health support during this time, there are services available to you. Please call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.

Emma McBride is Federal Member for Dobell Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health Shadow Assistant Minister for Carers

Caring for our community

•COVID-19 •Medicare •NDIS •Centrelink •NBN •Veterans’ Affairs •Jobs & Training •Congratulatory Messages

Coast reclassifi ed as a REGION

Chances of early lockdown exit increases

 DALLAS SHERRINHAM

“We are a region!” That is the overwhelming outcry on the Central Coast which struggled under the burden of being lumped into ‘Greater Sydney’ during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

The concept of a stand-alone Central Coast region has struggled to gain acceptance for generations of “Coasties” who don’t want the Coast to be seen as a part of Sydney or Newcastle, but it took the onset of the Covid-19 for it all to change.

The NSW Government has now re-classifi ed the Central Coast region in the Public Health Orders.

Decisions about Covid-19 rules in the Central Coast local government area will now be consistent with the remainder of regional NSW and separate to Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Wollongong.

Terrigal MP and Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast Adam Crouch announced the change late last week.

“Being treated separately to Greater Sydney improves our region’s chances of coming out of lockdown earlier,” he said.

It is the fi rst step in getting the Coast recognised as a stand-alone region in the eyes of the Government and a public service.

While political factions battle to disassemble the disgraced Central Coast Council and revert to the old separate Gosford and Wyong councils, the public stood fi rm in demanding the Coast be recognised as a region in its own right.

The Central Coast has traditionally been lumped in with Sydney and the Hunter in vital Government departments such as the Health Department and regional planning and investment. It was included in ‘Greater Sydney’ right from the outset of the pandemic lockdown which meant Coast residents were banned from leaving the region.

They were consequently also banned from entering Queensland which eff ectively wrecked the travel plans of thousands of locals.

Social media lit up with complaints about the Coast being lumped in with hotspots like Western Sydney and Bondi. The Coast has suff ered relatively few cases compared to Sydney.

Businesses were also angry, losing millions of dollars because of the lockdown.

Leading the charge was Federal Member for Robertson Lucy Wicks who launched a petition calling for the Central Coast be recognised as a stand-alone region with Gosford as the capital city.

It drew 13,500 signatures and Ms Wicks wrote to the Premier and Federal Government demanding that the Coast be offi cially recognised.

She said she strongly supported the NSW Government’s decision to prioritise lives and keep people safe in Covid-19.

“At the same time, the lockdown has also brought to the surface the longstanding challenges associated with our region being linked with Greater Sydney or other regions by government bureaucracy.”

“I requested the NSW Government investigate the impacts of the various classifi cations of the Coast at a state level and expressed how residents want a clear and consistent classifi cation of the Central Coast as a stand-alone region with Gosford as its capital city.”

We get skewed outcomes

Ms Wicks said by being linked with other regions such as the Hunter, “we get some really skewed outcomes as to who we are as a region and what we need to grow”.

“Levels of bureaucratic red tape have meant that all the diff erent defi nitions and classifi cations of the Coast we are missing out on the kinds of government investments and funding that you see in standalone regions like Newcastle or Western Sydney.”

“During the lockdown there has been considerable confusion over whether the Central Coast is classifi ed as part of Greater Sydney, or as regional NSW,” Ms Wicks said

“This is a huge win for around 13,500 local residents who signed our petition to make the Central Coast a stand-alone region with Gosford as our capital city.

“It’s way past time that the Coast was recognised consistently as its own standalone region government departments, including for services, government grants and infrastructure funding.

“It’s way past time that the Coast was recognised consistently as its own stand-alone region government departments, including for services, government grants and infrastructure funding.”

– Lucy Wicks.

“This is an important step towards being declared as a stand-alone region within our own right and great news for the Central Coast.”

Leading businessman and Central Coast councillor Bruce McLachlan is a strong advocate of a united, standalone Coast.

“In many State and Federal Departments, the Coast was–and I suspect still is–being classifi ed as either Northern Sydney or The Hunter. So, government department expenditure in, say, Hornsby or Maitland, is ticked off as expenditure on the Coast.

“The merger of the two councils into the new regional council was to help drive recognition and a united local eff ort in obtaining grants. Unfortunately, an improved and prosperous Central Coast is not in the interest of those that benefi t from a high welfare vote and have deliberately impeded the Council merger process, seeking to maintain the status quo and hold the Coast back.”

Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch said the Coast’s identity as a standalone region with Gosford as capital had been enshrined in law since 2020.

He said all agencies and departments of the NSW Government now formally recognised the Central Coast as a stand-alone region.

“I’ve worked hard to ensure our region receives and retains its own local Health District, Rural Fire Service, Police, Education departments plus Planning, Industry and Environment departments.”

“Central Coast Council is already reaping the rewards of our regional status, having received tens of millions of dollars of grant funding that is not available to like Newcastle and Wollongong.”

Minister for Planning Rob Stokes agreed, saying the Central Coast region was its own region, separate from the Greater Sydney or Hunter regions.

He said to support the region’s future, the NSW Government would soon be releasing a ‘fi rst-of-its-kind’ Central Coast Strategy and his department was currently developing a new Central Coast Regional Plan.