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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-03-08 Daily Xml
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Riverland Flood Response

Ms SAVVAS (Newland) (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Small and Family Business. Can the minister provide an update on how the state government is supporting businesses impacted by the flooding of the River Murray?

The Hon. A. MICHAELS (Enfield—Minister for Small and Family Business, Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs, Minister for Arts) (14:58): I thank the member for Newland for her question. As the member is aware and people in this place are aware, the River Murray flooding event has had a really devastating impact on hundreds of small businesses throughout the Riverland and the Mid Murray communities. Even those who have been spared inundation with the floodwaters have been impacted through power cuts, access restrictions and loss of trade. There has been severe impact on a number of businesses.

The Malinauskas government was quick to act, as it was a slow-moving disaster that approached. We developed a comprehensive support package for businesses. We have implemented a number of targeted grant programs for businesses, as well as funding free financial counselling for business owners through Rural Business Support, which has been quite useful, and assistance from representatives from the government's Office of Small and Family Business as well.

In terms of the grants to support small businesses, I am pleased to advise the house that as at the end of last week we had 103 applications approved for the Business Early Closure Grant. That provided up to $20,000 to business owners who had to close ahead of the rising water. That is $1.6 million that has hit their bank accounts. Two hundred and seventy-seven applications have been approved for the Generator Grant. That has reimbursed businesses and households who purchased generators due to a loss of power or a warning of a loss of power being imminent from SA Power Networks. That has had a total value of more than $430,000.

We have recently launched the Industry Support Grant, which has so far assisted 42 businesses with a $10,000 grant, so $420,000 out the door, where businesses had a 30 per cent or more reduction in revenue, and there are a lot more of those applications coming through the system at the moment. There is also a flood recovery grant now available to assist businesses with clean-up costs of up to $50,000 and, as the Minister for Tourism spoke about earlier, there is significant work in the tourism support space as well for those businesses.

I acknowledge that a number of these applications have taken longer to process due to the complex nature of the business structures and some of the documentation that has been required to be provided, but I have been receiving weekly updates. The vast majority of these applications have been processed within days, and total direct funding hitting the bank accounts of small business owners is now more than $2.5 million.

I have seen firsthand the impact that business owners and local communities have faced over the last few months, with regular visits, including to Berri, Renmark, Blanchetown, Mannum and Murray Bridge, as well as other towns along the river.

The financial losses are significant, and many business owners were unable to take out insurance at all or claim on those insurance policies. They have taken on additional debt, and it will take years for these businesses to recover, and that is once access and power has been restored, clean-up undertaken and restocking completed. All of that is going to take time.

Many of the businesses I have spoken to have prioritised paying the staff who are often seen as their extended family, to ensure that those staff members are supported and kept connected with those businesses. That is a wonderful thing that they are doing.

These are passionate, committed and resilient people who are doing extraordinary things, but they are impacted. Their mental health has been impacted and that is of great concern. There is support available, so I encourage anyone in that situation to seek that support that is available. In addition to the financial support and mental health support, the Riverland Community Justice Centre and Southern Community Justice Centre are providing legal assistance to businesses as well, if they need it.

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