❓ Mr. Catania questions the Minister for Small Business regarding the criteria for Cyclone Seroja small business grants in Kalbarri and the timeline for building promised worker accommodation. The Minister's response deflects, focusing on the government's overall COVID-19 response and fiscal responsibility.
AnsweredQoN 455Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CYCLONE SEROJA — SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS
455. Mr V.A. CATANIA to the Minister for Small Business:
I refer to the town of Kalbarri.
(1) With the government's announcement of the
$4 000 small business grant in Kalbarri following cyclone Seroja , will
the minister revisit the restrictive criteria, including the importance of
mum-and-dad businesses that are integral to the local tourism industry, and
include those businesses that earn under $75 000 and are not registered for
GST?
(2) When will the
minister's government build the promised and much-needed workers'
accommodation facility in Kalbarri, which is urgently needed to house tourism
workers and tradies to assist in the rebuild of the town, the community and the
tourism industry?
455. Mr V.A. CATANIA to the Minister for Small Business:
I refer to the town of Kalbarri.
(1) With the government's announcement of the
$4 000 small business grant in Kalbarri following cyclone Seroja , will
the minister revisit the restrictive criteria, including the importance of
mum-and-dad businesses that are integral to the local tourism industry, and
include those businesses that earn under $75 000 and are not registered for
GST?
(2) When will the
minister's government build the promised and much-needed workers'
accommodation facility in Kalbarri, which is urgently needed to house tourism
workers and tradies to assist in the rebuild of the town, the community and the
tourism industry?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the question. First of all,
I would like to think that the Nationals WA and the opposition generally
would be very supportive and congratulatory of the amazing efforts of restoring
the community of the midwest. The biggest disaster recovery funding
arrangements in the history of Western Australia have been attained by the good
work of the Western Australian government in concert with the federal
government and the 16 local governments in the midwest.
The best thing that we can do for
businesses, not just in Kalbarri, but around the state, is to keep the doors
open. That is what we do when we go hard and we go early with lockdowns that
have an effective result. We know what is
happening in Sydney today; there are 688 new COVID-19 cases. We have zero cases
in Western Australia today; that is
the difference. We had the same outbreak, member. We dealt with the same issues. The same Delta variant came to Western Australia and we dealt with it,
and other places did not. The very best
thing that we can do for our local businesses is to keep the doors open. That
is what businesses want. They do not want to have their hand out; they
want to be doing business.
If there is another lockdown, and we
pray that there will not be, but if there is, we will always consider the needs
of small business. There has been a huge variety of assistance with well over a
billion dollars' worth of assistance to businesses and the community
since this pandemic began. We look at all the needs of businesses, but we do
not have a bottomless pit of money. We do not throw away taxpayers'
money; we have probity arrangements around that and we need to ensure that
taxpayers' money is spent wisely. We
will never have enough to reimburse businesses for lost income. It is about
helping them with their costs and cash flow and about helping those who are
most in need. It is a very careful way of controlling the money. It is
something that, I guess, members of the opposition are not familiar with. When
we are dealing with taxpayers' money, we have a burden of
responsibility to use it wisely and we will continue to do so.
I would like to think that the Nationals WA and the opposition generally
would be very supportive and congratulatory of the amazing efforts of restoring
the community of the midwest. The biggest disaster recovery funding
arrangements in the history of Western Australia have been attained by the good
work of the Western Australian government in concert with the federal
government and the 16 local governments in the midwest.
The best thing that we can do for
businesses, not just in Kalbarri, but around the state, is to keep the doors
open. That is what we do when we go hard and we go early with lockdowns that
have an effective result. We know what is
happening in Sydney today; there are 688 new COVID-19 cases. We have zero cases
in Western Australia today; that is
the difference. We had the same outbreak, member. We dealt with the same issues. The same Delta variant came to Western Australia and we dealt with it,
and other places did not. The very best
thing that we can do for our local businesses is to keep the doors open. That
is what businesses want. They do not want to have their hand out; they
want to be doing business.
If there is another lockdown, and we
pray that there will not be, but if there is, we will always consider the needs
of small business. There has been a huge variety of assistance with well over a
billion dollars' worth of assistance to businesses and the community
since this pandemic began. We look at all the needs of businesses, but we do
not have a bottomless pit of money. We do not throw away taxpayers'
money; we have probity arrangements around that and we need to ensure that
taxpayers' money is spent wisely. We
will never have enough to reimburse businesses for lost income. It is about
helping them with their costs and cash flow and about helping those who are
most in need. It is a very careful way of controlling the money. It is
something that, I guess, members of the opposition are not familiar with. When
we are dealing with taxpayers' money, we have a burden of
responsibility to use it wisely and we will continue to do so.
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