Immediate impact on business
The government has announced a stimulus package that will go towards helping small and medium-sized businesses through the crisis, with Premier Daniel Andrews and Treasurer Tim Pallas announcing a $1.7 billion economic survival and jobs package over the weekend. As part of the package, the government will provide full payroll tax refunds for the 2019-20 financial year to small and medium-sized businesses with payroll of less than $3 million, giving $550 million back to businesses who need it.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack also announced an extra $1 billion would be injected into regional areas in response to the outbreak.
However, throughout Warragul, many small businesses are beginning to see the effects of the policies regarding the virus. The streets have slowly started to empty and the social catch up for coffee has gone.
One who has noticed the distinct change has been Christopher Odrowaz, owner of Main Street Café.
“We are still getting people through the door, which is great, they are taking a sensible approach which is good, but we aren’t getting the usual post school rush like we usually see,” he said.
“We’ve taken a few precautions and have offered a full take away menu for those who might not want to sit in, while we’ve banned keep cups for now and aren’t taking cash payments,” he added.
The hospitality industry looks to be one of the first in line to take a hit as the coronavirus pandemic ramps up, with Mr Odrowaz hoping the recent announcements will lend a hand.
“This industry is going to take a pretty big hit, so whatever they can do to help would be great,” he said.
Another industry that is already feeling the full effects of the virus has been the travel industry. Jo Daniels from Travel Plus Warragul said that since the pandemic was declared, they’ve been undoing their work from the past six months.
“We’ve had to basically cancel everyone we’ve had booked up until April, and most want to cancel through to May which is a shame,” she said. “At the moment we are spending most of our day on the phone to airlines who are changing their policies quite often and undoing all of our work,” she added.
“We don’t really know what we can do, it’s a very interesting time. We are just reducing some hours and trying to keep the environment as stress free as possible,” she said.
Ms Daniels is also hoping the government is able to lend a hand to small businesses who have been directly affected by the changing situation.
“I do hope they can provide us with something, to help pay wages and other expenses.
There are still people getting quotes, they just aren’t booking because of the unknown,” she said.
While supermarkets are being inundated with customers purchasing massive quantities of food, Steve Pinder of Morlands Meats said the pandemic has seen the business explode with customers who can’t get meat at the supermarkets.
“It’s Christmas on steroids,” he said.
As school activities also bear the brunt, with many upcoming debs and formals postponed, Cal Dickson from Dickson’s Mensland in Warragul has noticed some changes in spending habits.
“There’s been a little change other than some cancellations of weddings and also debs at schools postponed, but for us it hasn’t really changed much,” he said. “Those events will eventually be back on, so we’ll see them again just in the future.”