Grievance Debate

Coronavirus

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (15:20): Here we are only five weeks on from when the number of new coronavirus cases in South Australia was doubling every two to three days, and we have just recorded five days in a row of no new cases. That is an outstanding effort, and we must take some time to thank all those involved: the medical professionals who have so carefully guided the community through this period, South Australia Police and, most of all, the public of South Australia.

The resilience of the South Australian community at this time has been exemplary. We have collectively made decisions to stay at home and to stay distant from our families, our friends and our work colleagues, at the very time that all the fibres of our being are encouraging us to gather around those very people, when we face fear and uncertainty. But there is a new sense of hope and optimism in the community that perhaps soon we can again see our families, friends and loved ones in the way in which we were so fond of doing: up close and in person again—that is, if we keep up the good work.

But many people are hurting. There are tens of thousands of workers in South Australia who have joined the unemployment queues in recent weeks. This is devastating for them financially and also mentally and emotionally. There are thousands upon thousands of businesses here in South Australia that have closed or that are just desperately trying to hang on: the local shops, the takeaways, the cafes, the restaurants and the pubs. Many other types of businesses are also struggling to survive with reduced trading and social distancing.

It is clear that the big splurge on retail, as many unfortunately hoarded food and groceries, was largely confined to that specific area of the retail industry. Transaction data is showing that this trend is now slowing and there are fears that local supermarkets, particularly those that we are most proud of—the South Australian owned and operated supermarkets—may now experience the quieter trading that all others in retail are experiencing. Spending across the economy is down both as people lose jobs and have less income and as others who remain in employment choose to spend less money.

We should also pause now to thank the government for its support of people and businesses at this time. The additional JobSeeker payments and the new JobKeeper payments are something that we have never needed before, but we certainly need them now. The announced spending from the state government, of course, is welcomed too. We may quibble about whether South Australia has gone big enough, hard enough and whether we have supported the right areas in the stimulus announcements, but the willingness to act is important and the government should be recognised for its efforts.

But what also needs to be recognised is that time is of the essence. In most cases, businesses have just come through the worst six weeks of their trading lives. They have at least another week or more until they can access the promised JobKeeper payments. The JobKeeper scheme requires businesses to pay staff up front the entitlement, to later be reimbursed by the federal government.

A large number of businesses I have been speaking to, particularly the small businesses in my electorate, simply do not have the spare money lying around to meet this cost. This means that they and their employees cannot access the JobKeeper payments, because they cannot afford them up-front. Without these JobKeeper payments, though, they cannot keep their staff, and without their staff they cannot see that they can re-emerge on the other side of the restrictions with a viable business.

Likewise, it is a welcome move that the South Australian government will pay $10,000 to small businesses to try to help them through these restrictions. Applications are open for another five weeks, and it is not clear, despite what the Premier tells us, when the grants will start getting out to businesses. Most applicants in my electorate have not yet received a grant, and indeed some are being told that they cannot expect to receive the grant for some time while other applications are being made and processed. These grants could be the difference between a business surviving and not surviving.

It is clear for many businesses that they need this support right now—not in two weeks' time and not in a month's time or more. They need this support right now. The state government here needs to do whatever it takes to get this money out into the community immediately. We have only just heard from the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure that, of the $350 million of government support that was announced nearly seven weeks ago, the only activity to have happened on projects is for two tenders to be issued. Meanwhile, an extra 44,000 people have been reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as out of work. This government needs to get cracking to support the community as quickly as possible.