Motel begs for rent help Business at risk of $300k setback

TOWNSVILLE business owners have begged the State Government to pass a law to protect them from eviction as they face the possibility of becoming broke and homeless within 10 days.

It comes as the Queensland Government failed to pass the Mandatory Code of Conduct for Commercial Leasing intended to safeguard tenants during COVID-19 after it was debated in parliament for three days.

The owners of Banjo Paterson Motor Inn, Annette and Greg Langdon, have been among the hardest hit by coronavirus, with about $300,000 in revenue on the line over the next six months.

Mrs Langdon said their landlord was not legally obliged to offer rent assistance given the lack of legislation and had threatened to start the eviction process in less than two weeks.

A Mandatory Code of Conduct for Commercial Leasing was released by National Cabinet on April 7 for commercial tenancies affected by COVID-19.

The code outlines a set of good faith leasing principles for commercial tenancies to support small and sized enterprises.

While she understood the current law, Mrs Langdon said it needed to be changed for businesses to have a chance of surviving the pandemic.

The couple’s occupancy had plummeted by 80 per cent since the COVID-19 pandemic began and they struggled to mediummeet their rental payments of $12,000 per month.

The motel was not only their business but their home, and Mrs Langdon said they would be forced to pack up and leave Townsville if nothing changed.

“We were confident that this was going to be our year,” she said.

“We’ve gone through floods, gone through the quiet period, we’ve gone through a heart attack … we were surviving, then business just died overnight.

“We will do everything we can to save our small business … along with the jobs of the two staff who work here.”

Federal Member for Herbert Phillip Thompson campaigned for the State Government to call an emergency parliamentary sitting and enact the law.

Mr Thompson said the Code of Conduct should have been enacted in Queensland after being implemented in NSW about a month ago.

WE’VE GONE THROUGH FLOODS, GONE THROUGH THE QUIET PERIOD, WE’VE GONE THROUGH A HEART ATTACK … THEN BUSINESS JUST DIED OVERNIGHT”

Picture: ALIX SWEENEY DESPERATE TIMES: Co-owner of Banjo Paterson Motor Inn Annette Langdon is calling for help from the State Government as she is on the verge of being evicted.