WHERE DID MONEY GO?

THE Tasmanian government has to reconsider its decision not to publish the recipients of business grants. Pressure is mounting on the government to release the information from a number of quarters. The names of businesses which shared in more than $ 26m in taxpayer- funded grants during the pandemic will not be revealed because Small Business Minister Sarah Courtney says it would be “highly distressing”.

“These are Tasmanian men and women that have been through the most horrific year in their businesses,” she said.

“I don’t want to do anything at all to compound the distress that they’ve had both emotionally, but also the potential hardship on their businesses.”

But today the Mercury shares the stories of businesses who were turned down for the amount they requested as well as people who were happy with the help they received — all of them say they are happy to be identified.

No one is denying that 2020 has been a devastating year for many families and many businesses.

And there’s every likelihood that the fallout from the coronavirus crisis will be felt for months and years to come.

That’s why there is no shame in applying for and receiving government assistance.

People’s business models were devastated due to an unforeseen pandemic and through no fault of their own.

But as businessman Kim Gardiner says, understanding who received the grants would help him to understand how the scheme works.

This is taxpayers’ money.

Our beef is not with those who received a hand when they needed it most, it’s about this government, whose default position is always secrecy.

We don’t need to cast our mind very far back to the essential worker approval process scandal which the government tried and failed to dodge.

Our donation disclosure laws are the weakest in the country. We never know the source of a great many political donors and it’s a constant area of concern for voters.

The government hides behind commercial in confidence, outdated and weak electoral laws and now it is hiding behind misplaced sentiment.

We know from recent history in other parts of Australia that grant approval processes can be fraught with controversy.

And we’re not suggesting the government has done anything wrong here.

Simply — the public does not trust politicians and while the government continues to mistrust the public with information that problem will remain.

All that we say, time and time again, is that good governance means good transparency.

And at every turn, this government fails that particular test.