SAFE TRANSITION INDUSTRY SUPPORT PACKAGE
48. Hon
Dr STEVE THOMAS to the Leader of the House representing the Premier:
I
refer to the Premier's announcement of 10 February 2022 of a $77 million
safe transition industry support package.
(1) Given the
critical economic pressures impacting Western Australian businesses, what is
the anticipated process time from lodgement
of application for support package to payment of grants to business recipients?
(2) Are the grants a tax-free
payment to business?
(3) What was the
criteria used to deem a business eligible for the support package, and will the
Premier table that criteria; and, if not, why not?
(4) What was the
criteria used to deem a business ineligible for the support package, and will
the Premier table the criteria; and, if not, why not?
Hon SUE ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) Eligible
businesses will have their applications processed and payments made as soon as
possible. One of the rationales behind extending or modifying a number of
previous business support programs is to significantly reduce processing time
for previous recipients. This will allow new applicants to be assessed in a more
timely manner.
(2) The tax-free
status of grants is a decision of the commonwealth government. As with our
previous business assistance packages, the state government will seek tax-free
status for these payments from the commonwealth.
(3)–(4) The eligibility criteria for the various
components of the package are publicly available on the WA website, but
I will ensure that the member gets a hard copy.