Back to work: let’s get Australia going again
WHAT WE NEED TO DO
A BUSINESS recovery is in sight as Australia emerges from the worst of the pandemic but there are still some hurdles on the path back to normality.
Business owners and leaders are being urged to prepare for localised lockdowns and friction between states however there is confidence in a brighter future.
Business Australia chief executive Daniel Hunter said there was optimism that once Australia reopened, business will bounce back strongly.
“Some industries will take longer than others, particularly those that rely on international travel but generally there is a good feeling among business owners that the countdown to Christmas will be a good one, provided those cities in lockdown reopen shortly,” Mr Hunter said.
“The overseas model has shown that customers are loyal and will return to their favourite local businesses – but that doesn’t mean that business owners can get complacent.
“They’ll have to work extra hard on their customer service because if the lockdowns have taught us anything, it’s that customers don’t mind searching for alternate ways to find a product.”
Small Business Australia executive director Bill Lang said there would be tentative steps forward but businesses should not over-commit “given how quickly things can revert to disaster mode”.
Mr Lang said recovery would vary by location, by industry “and by the resources the business has available to still be operating when the customers come back”.
“For example, the WA and Queensland tourism industries will both continue to suffer for as long as international travel and visitors are locked out of the country but more importantly as long as their state governments lock out the rest of Australia.”
Some states offered no certainty and little confidence to businesses, Mr Lang said. He said government loan assistance such as the SME Recovery Loans Scheme was not being accessed because “business owners do not want to borrow money unless they are confident they can pay it back”. A potential solution, Mr Lang said, was a similar approach to Britain with revenuecontingent loans that need to be repaid only once a business’s revenue reached a certain level. Overseas businesses in countries with higher vaccination rates than Australia are shutting down if three employees test positive, while other countries are opening up dramatically – such as Norway, which has dropped all restrictions despite having only 67 per cent of its people fully vaccinated. Chris Maher, senior vaccine adviser to UNICEF Australia, said he could see workplacebased vaccination becoming more common. “This makes a great deal of sense,” he said. “Clearly, for any business, having a highly vaccinated workforce reduces the risk that they might suffer major disruptions from further outbreaks. And it demonstrates good corporate responsibility.”
Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said lockdowns were originally intended to give Australia time to prepare to live with the virus, and could not go on forever.
“At 80 per cent fully vaccinated, Australians should be free from domestic restrictions, with hospitality, retail and manufacturing back to 100 per cent capacity,” she said. “The longer we delay planning to reopen and reunite, the bigger the risk to our international reputation as a good place to do business, invest, visit and create jobs.”