CORONAVIRUS — BUSINESS ASSISTANCE PACKAGE
703. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the minister representing the
Treasurer:
I refer to the answer to question on
notice 756, which stated that as at 6 August, only $11 million of the budgeted
$42 million tenant rent relief scheme was provided by the government as part of
the level 1 COVID business assistance package.
(1) Does the
minister now concede that the government's COVID assistance package was
too complicated and the application process too onerous?
(2) How much has the tenant rent
relief scheme delivered as of today?
(3) Given that
the packages were announced back on 24 February 2022, six months ago, in
response to COVID lockdowns, ''to assist small businesses with cash flow
and to support safe trading'', why have those businesses had to wait six
months for cashflow assistance?
(4) How many businesses went bust
before help arrived?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1)–(2) No.
A total of $12 696 000 has been paid to over 4 000 businesses as at 18 August
as part of the tenant rent relief scheme. The McGowan government's
business support programs were the most generous of any delivered by any state
throughout the pandemic.
The Small Business Development
Corporation has provided phenomenal support and assistance to small businesses
in Western Australia throughout the pandemic.
(3) All completed
applications that were submitted over 12 weeks ago have been processed, fitting
within the time frames published by the Small
Business Development Corporation. The state government has an obligation
to undertake due diligence on all applications to ensure taxpayer funds are
managed appropriately. For example, more than 30 fraudulent applications for
business grant programs have been detected to date and referred to the police.
A large proportion of grant applications received are missing requisite
evidence, which delays the approval of grants until the applicant is able to
provide the necessary information.
(4) Business
activity has remained strong in Western Australia throughout the COVID-19
pandemic. State final demand in the year to the March quarter 2022 was 8.8 per
cent higher than 2019—the strongest recovery
of all states. Unemployment is currently at 3.2 per cent, which is a near
record low. Retail spending reached a
record high in the three months to June 2022 to now be 28.5 per cent above
pre-COVID-19 levels.