It's welcomed news this afternoon that Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick announced a major $600 million package to support COVID-19 impacted Queensland businesses and sole traders.
Townsville Enterprise has been strongly advocating for business assistance since Townsville's lockdown seven-weeks ago and we have continued to work with both levels of government on securing support for our business community and tourism and hospitality industry.
We have always said that being 'locked out' is just as damaging as being locked down and it's most pleasing this announcement is not just for businesses affected by recent lockdowns, but for those that continue to suffer because of lockdowns in other jurisdictions and continued border closures.
This support package will be tailored based on the payroll burden of businesses and includes help for sole traders.
As part of the package, additional support for businesses that have had a decline in turnover of more than 30 per cent will include:
- A $1,000 one-off grant to non-employing sole traders across Queensland;
- Tiered payments based on payroll size for all businesses across Queensland;
- A $5,000 one-off, top-up grant to small business with payroll of less than $1.3 million;
- A $10,000 one-off, top-up grant to medium sized business with payroll between $1.3 million and $10 million; and
- A $25,000 one-off, top-up grant to large sized tourism and hospitality focused businesses with payroll of greater than $10 million.
More information will be available on the Business Queensland website.
We thank both the State and Federal governments for reaching this agreement today. We will continue to work hand in glove with our local representatives to ensure our region's businesses are supported throughout the ongoing challenges of COVID-19.
