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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 350 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 21 May 2020 by Ms S.E. Winton

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

CORONAVIRUS — HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY — GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

350. Ms S.E. WINTON to the Minister for Racing and Gaming:

I refer to the significant impact that COVID-19 has had on Western Australian small businesses. Can the minister outline to the house what measures the McGowan government has taken to support small businesses, particularly those in our liquor and hospitality industry?

Mr P. PAPALIA replied:

I thank the member for Wanneroo for her question and her very clear, bold, strong support for small businesses right across Western Australia. The state government has committed some $1.8 billion toward support of sustainment and recovery measures right across all sectors in the state. A huge proportion of that spend has been focused on small business. We have recently announced measures for the tourism sector. The liquor licensing and hospitality sector in particular have been impacted significantly by some of the COVID-19 measures, and they were very abruptly impacted. Many of them were required to shut at very short notice, and we are aware of that. We have been taking measures from the moment those businesses were impacted to enable them, where possible, to continue to trade in some form so that they are able to be ready to come into the recovery. I am very pleased to acknowledge the efforts of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and the director of Liquor Licensing. The director general of the department, Duncan Ord, is also the director of Liquor Licensing. He is an outstanding public servant, and his team has done incredibly well. Like many public servants in the state, they have been focused on supporting the community during this tough time. They swept into action immediately, creating and processing temporary six-month occasional licences to allow packaged liquor of up to one bottle of wine and a sixpack to be provided with takeaway or delivered meals for restaurants, bars and like that would not otherwise have been able to trade had the department not created and very quickly processed those licences. I can report that since March, 2 794 licences have been issued to 590 premises. That is 590 small businesses such as restaurants and small bars that we have been able to help to keep customers and revenue coming in and to keep WA people employed. There were 27 occasional restricted licences granted to hotels and taverns to authorise the sale of packaged liquor on Good Friday, and 30 occasional licence approvals were granted in remote areas to allow for bulk sales to station owners and other eligible people while statewide section 31 notices were in place. The occasional licences were fast-tracked through a streamlined process and at no cost to those receiving them. All annual liquor licensing fees were either waived at the outset, if they not been paid already, or refunded. Those measures represent $3.4 million worth of support by the state government. I am very happy that they have been so effectively employed.

Also, of course, we cannot go without acknowledging the fact that Western Australia has led the nation with the most generous lifting of restrictions on the hospitality sector. In Western Australia groups of up to 20 people are allowed in venues, restaurants, cafes and bars acting as restaurants if they are ordering liquor ancillary to a meal. In other states, in every other jurisdiction except the Northern Territory, 10 people are allowed in hospitality venues. We see measures in place in Victoria. It is being trumpeted that on 1 June people in Victoria will be able to go back into a bar, cafe or restaurant, but at the moment people there have no opportunity to do that. Businesses in Victoria are still waiting for that support from their state government, but we have given it. That is because we have been able to employ such effective measures as the hard border, our tracing and our control of COVID-19. That has resulted in this great outcome, and will enable further liberalisation, providing we keep the hard border with the east, where there is community transfer of the disease, and providing some of those calling for lifting that measure are ignored. If they had their way, everything would be in jeopardy, so I am very grateful to the Western Australian business community for its understanding and forbearance in these difficult times. It can rest assured that we have its best interests at heart.