No clarity from the Government on restrictions for the Mornington Peninsula
At Tuesdays COVID-19 update the Premier Daniel Andrews told journalists he would have announcements to make tomorrow regarding the Mornington Peninsula – unfortunately the only announcements made on Wednesday related to roadblocks and the Mornington Peninsula continues to be in “no man’s land”.
President for the Committee for Mornington Peninsula (CfMP), Shannon Smit said “The CfMP and other groups and residents have been asking the Premier and his government for clarity for several weeks about why the Mornington Peninsula continues to be included in the metropolitan lock down despite currently having less cases than some regional areas that are able to open for trading. The Shire of Colac Otway who is open for business has 20 active cases, yet the Mornington Peninsula Shire with only 2 active cases is still in stage four restrictions”
“We ask the Premier to urgently and publicly clarify the reason for the continued restrictions on the Mornington Peninsula- our businesses and residents deserve to have the rationale explained” Ms Smit said.
In relation to other recent state government announcements the CfMP welcomes the additional support for businesses and were encouraged to see such a comprehensive approach to support business within the City of Melbourne. A commitment of $50 million towards the Melbourne City Recovery Fund will enable many businesses within the CBD to ‘come back to life’ after the COVID closures. This recent funding boost combined with the previous $20 million of state government funding will go a long way to reinvigorating the hospitality and retail industry within the City of Melbourne
Ms Smit said “The CfMP are supportive of the announcement for the City of Melbourne but would welcome a similar targetted approach for other municipalities, particularly the Mornington Peninsula which is so dependent upon the hospitality and tourism trade. Each municipality across Victoria has been impacted in different ways and we encourage the Andrews government to look at the needs of each municipality- not just the City of Melbourne.
“Victoria’s economy is not solely reliant upon a single municipalities input. Our research points to many Mornington Peninsula businesses being on the brink and in desperate need of hope and a road out of the current punishing business conditions and we ask the Andrews government to look beyond the City of Melbourne for providing dedicated recovery funds.”
"Summer is around the corner and the CfMP is concerned that without state government funding, such as that granted to the City of Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula businesses are going to miss out on key opportunities in the recovery phase. A handbrake on summer trade and missed opportunities to commence recovery will mean many great Mornington Peninsula Businesses will not survive”, Ms Smit said.
Ms Smit said “The CfMP welcome the Outdoor Eating and Entertainment Package and hopes that it also means that amendments for
liquor licencees to extend their “red line” and road and car park closures managed by VicRoads are able to be fast tracked along with other
state government requirements. The CfMP are however concerned about the announcements regarding payroll tax deferral. Alongside the federal
company tax deferral this could present huge problems when the debt comes due. A better approach we think would have been to waiver
payroll tax”
The concerns of CfMP for the economic recovery of the Mornington Peninsula are reinforced by data prepared by REMPLAN (specialists in providing area-specific data) which shows for the Mornington Peninsula:
- prior to COVID-19 and the introduction of social lockdown measures to manage the pandemic, the total employment across all local industry sectors was estimated at 52,682. For July 2020, total employment was estimated at 49,389, a fall of 6.3%.
- prior to COVID-19 and the introduction of social lockdown measures to manage the pandemic, the total monthly output across all local industry sectors was estimated at $1.305 billion. For July 2020, industry output is estimated at $1.180 billion, a fall of 9.6%
- prior to COVID-19 and the introduction of social lockdown measures to manage the pandemic, the total monthly expenditure for wages & salaries across all local industry sectors was estimated at $329.539 million. For July 2020, the total of wages & salaries is estimated at $309.916 million, a fall of 6%.
- prior to COVID-19 and the introduction of social lockdown measures to manage the pandemic, the total monthly value added across all local industry sectors was estimated at $622.081 million. For July 2020, value added is estimated at $528.796 million, a fall of 15%.
Media Contact
Alina Hinton-Tooley – Executive Officer » 0404317010 » info@committeeformp.com.au
