Some Mildura businesses fear they won’t survive after confirmation JobKeeper will not be extended for the tourism sector past March 31.
Eva Calvi, owner of Mildura Oasis Backpackers, said she was “just trying to hang on” until international borders reopen, but she didn’t know yet if her business would make it through.
Ms Calvi and two other staff have been surviving on JobKeeper as visitor numbers have dwindled during the pandemic, but treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced on Friday payments would not be extended for the hard-hit tourism sector.
Her 100-bed hostel is a “ghost town” she said, with only six backpackers staying at the facility. The business normally works to connect backpackers to local farm work in addition to providing accomodation, but there are “not many backpackers left (in town)”, she said.
“It’s really sad,” she said. “We’re just trying to survive.”
Ms Calvi has been exploring different avenues to attract visitors to the hostel, including housing people who have received government grants to relocate to Mildura, but numbers have remained low.
Mildura Regional Development CEO Brett Millington said some local businesses will be “going to the wall” when JobKeeper payments cease.
According to the latest REMPLAN economic data released in September, 32.8 per cent of businesses in the Mildura region had applied for JobKeeper support. Mr Millington said that equates to roughly 1000 businesses.
“No one wants people to have to make that decision (to close their business),” he said.
Mr Millington said with JobKeeper ruled out, his organisation would be offering financial counselling for businesses that can no longer survive to “exit strategically and with dignity”.
He said the coronavirus pandemic had exacerbated the normal challenges businesses faced, and tourism and retail have been the most severely impacted.
The biggest boost to regional tourism would be more certainty around borders, he said, and state governments should focus on a “hotspot approach instead of hard borders (when a coronavirus outbreak occurs).”
Mr Frydenberg told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday the labour market had “outperformed expectations”, with 320,000 jobs created in the last three months, and there should be “no expectation” JobKeeper would be extended.
