Advocacy Alert: Federal Cash Rescue | COVID-19 Second Economic Response Package

22nd March 2020

  • Additional $66 billion plan to help save jobs and provide income support
  • Specifically designed to support SMEs hit first and the hardest from COVID-19 and cushion the blow to households

We applaud the Prime Minister and his team for listening to the business community and today announcing an additional $66 billion economic response package on top of the previous $123 billion stimulus package, bringing the total Federal Government response to $189 billion.

The package reflects the feedback from our local business community that was included in the Economic Action Plan we delivered to our Federal and State MPs about the critical need for cash flow initiatives, wage subsidies, loans and support for sole traders to help ride these extraordinary circumstances out.

We have been strong in our message to Government that every day counts in these evolving circumstances. Already on the back of the Prime Minister's announcement today we have had confirmation that some of our local businesses have halted decisions around staff redundancies – some that were to take place as early as Monday morning.

The package not just provides some certainty in an exceptionally uncertain world, but also provides some hope to our local business community that they can hold on.

The key areas of focus in the package include:

  • Boosting cash flow for employers
  • Temporary relief for financially distressed businesses
  • Increasing the instant asset write-off
  • Backing business investment
  • Supporting apprentices and trainees

Fact sheets and further detail on all Federal Government support measures announced here: https://treasury.gov.au/coronavirus

We acknowledge and thank Phil Thompson and our other Federal representatives for engaging closely with the business community and providing the local data to the Government which ensured the voice of North Queensland was heard in the design of these packages. We have a long road ahead and today’s announcement assists our business community in their strategy and decision making.

While today's announcement is welcomed and significant, we will continue this dialogue with Phil, Susan McDonald, George Christensen, and the Federal Government to not only work together in the response to the immediate crisis but to also secure the project pipeline that will help the North get back to work and the economy on its feet after the health crisis abates.

On the back of these announcements, we now look forward to seeing urgent action from State authorities to add to this significant Federal Government package. We will continue our positive engagement with our State MPs as these measures are being designed.

Click here for support measures, services, and daily round-ups of government announcements, as well as a series of videos on how to best prepare your business for potential impacts at our COVID-19 Resource Centre

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