CORONAVIRUS — SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS
157. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the Leader of the House
representing the Premier:
I refer to the
Premier's announcement on 2 March 2022 of a level 2 COVID-19 business
assistance package.
(1) How was the figure of $72 million for the support
package arrived at, and what assumptions and information did the
government use to calculate expected business losses?
(2) Will the
government table for the house the modelling, assumptions and calculations used
to arrive at this figure; and, if not, why not?
(3) On what date
will applications for the support package open and what department or agency
will oversee the assessment of the applications?
(4) What criteria
were used to deem a business eligible for the support package, and will the
Premier table those criteria; and, if not, why not?
(5) What were the
criteria used to deem a business ineligible for the support package, and will
the Premier table those criteria; and, if not, why?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the
member for some notice of the question.
(1)–(2) This
information is Expenditure Review Committee-in-confidence.
(3) The Small Business Development Corporation will
oversee applications for the $67 million Small Business Hardship Grants
program. As per the Premier's media statement of 4 March 2022,
applications for the hardship grants will open on 17 March 2022.
Revenue WA is
currently assessing payroll tax waivers for affected large hospitality
businesses.
The COVID-19 commercial sporting
franchises support program provides a rebate of $35 000 per game for venue hire
costs and will be processed as events occur.
(4)–(5) Eligibility criteria are available on the Small
Business Development Corporation—there is a word missing—website.
That is not a satisfactory answer so I will ensure that a hard copy is made
available.