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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-08-25 Daily Xml
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Business, Financial Support

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:34): My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer update the house on how many businesses have received financial assistance as a result of recent COVID restrictions?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:34): I am pleased to be able to report to the house that, under a range of schemes, many tens of thousands of businesses have received support from the taxpayers of South Australia to assist them in coping with, firstly, the brief period of lockdown and then a brief period of more intensive restrictions soon after the lockdown period.

In relation to the first business support grant that was announced for those businesses impacted by the lockdown period, I am advised that approximately 18,600 businesses have received grants to the total value of just over $49 million. I am advised that there are approximately 25,800 applications, so there are still approximately 7,000 applications to be processed. The overall majority of people have already received their taxpayer funds, and just over $49 million has been paid.

In relation to the second round of grants, there have been approximately 2,300 applications for that second round of grants, and $5.1 million has been paid out to approximately 1,800 individual businesses. A small number of those also received an additional grant of $1,000 because they were CBD-located businesses, but overall 1,800.

Treasury has advised me—and I will issue a statement later today urging businesses that might have been impacted by the continuing restrictions for a period after the lockdown—that they have to make a separate application for that second round of business grants, $3,000, and if they are a CBD-related business an additional $1,000, so a total of $4,000.

The Treasury office is of the view that there may well be a view from some that there is an automatic continuation of the application made for the first round of grants for those impacted by the lockdown. That is not the case. There were different eligibility criteria for the second round of grants and the fact that it was obviously extended for CBD-related businesses as well.

I today encourage businesses to make an application. The applications are open right through until, I think, the second or third week of October, so there is plenty of time for businesses to make an application. I would encourage members of the opposition and the crossbench, if they have constituents who might be eligible, to reinforce to them that they do need to make a second application for the second round of grants, if they so wish. The first round of those grant schemes was funded by state taxpayers, and the second round was funded jointly by the federal and state governments.

With the COVID-19 disaster payments I am pleased to be able to report that more than 85,000 individuals benefited from the COVID-19 disaster payments. The total claims paid by both the federal and state governments there amounted to approximately $48 million in total payments: just under $6 million for individuals who claimed for less than 20 hours lost during the lockdown period and just over $42 million for claims paid for people who claim to have lost more than 20 hours of work during that particular period. They were two different grant payments: $375 and $600.

So the total federal and state government assistance at this stage is almost exactly $100 million: a combination of the COVID-19 disaster payments to individuals and a range of business supports to businesses as well. There will obviously be more payments to be made under the original grants scheme but, again, we encourage those businesses that might meet the eligibility criteria for the second round of grants to go to the Treasury website and check whether or not they are eligible for the second round of grants and, if so, to lodge their application. As I said, there is plenty of time, right through to the second or third week of October, for them to make that application for the second round of grants.

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