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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-08-21 Daily Xml
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Algal Bloom

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): My question is again to the Premier. Has the government reviewed its criteria for small business relief and what, if any, changes has it made? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Yesterday in question time, the Treasurer told the parliament that six small businesses had their grant applications rejected, yet this morning on FIVEaa the Premier said that the government would be 'flexible' in its approach to granting small business relief.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:12): We have already demonstrated that by adjusting a number of the grants. In regard to the operation of the grants, one area of feedback that we have received is that businesses need to be able to demonstrate a downturn of 30 per cent over the period that aligns with the algal bloom, and some businesses weren't affected in May or even June—which largely accords with the operation of the bloom because it really wasn't until July that we started to see the bloom take shape in a substantial way in Gulf St Vincent, and that was evident from a chronology that was released by SARDI this morning. So what we have done is we have made it clear that we are willing to extend that timeline and that three-month operational period to allow more to be eligible.

The Leader of the Opposition, being a good Liberal, will appreciate that there is an important obligation on the government to make sure that we are expending taxpayers' funds appropriately. That is to say, in order for us to be able to approve a grant, one needs to apply for it. So we would say to the Leader of the Opposition that if he is engaging with businesses that are experiencing hardship, the best advice that he could provide is for people to apply for grants. Businesses that don't apply for grants can't get grants: that's the way it works and I would have thought that's pretty self-explanatory for good reasons.

We need to be able to establish that there has been a genuine downturn. That's why we need access to people's accounts and so forth, because of course we wouldn't want to see recklessness in giving taxpayers' money to businesses that haven't been adversely affected, so we've got to be prudent here. I would have thought that's a set of principles that the Leader of the Opposition would endorse.

If the Leader of the Opposition or any member in this place, in their capacity as being good local MPs, comes across a business that they think is experiencing genuine financial hardship as a result of the algal bloom, the best thing they can do is apply. But, as the Leader of the Opposition will appreciate, if a business does not apply for the grant we will not be giving them, otherwise it would be foolhardy and reckless and would be scrutinised appropriately by a whole range of independent government agencies.

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