Page 146 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Social Inclusion and Equality, Minister for Tertiary Education, Minister for Tourism and Special Events and Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment) (11.53): I move:
Omit all text after “(1) notes”, substitute:
“(a) the significant impacts on businesses in the ACT in the wake of severe weather events, including bushfires, smoke and hail in and around the ACT;
(b) businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector have been particularly impacted;
(c) some businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector have reported significant losses in revenue compared to the same period in previous years;
(d) hotel providers in Canberra have reported significant cancellation rates as a direct result of air quality; and
(e) the Commonwealth Government have announced a range of disaster assistance measures to assist eligible businesses that have been directly impacted;
(2) also notes:
(a) the ACT Government held an initial roundtable with the tourism and hospitality industry on 17 January to hear directly from the sector about the impacts, and help inform the government response;
(b) to quickly and directly assist the hospitality sector, the ACT Government announced an immediate 50 percent reduction in the cost of outdoor dining permits for existing permit holders, and a waiver of all fees for the first 12 months for new permit holders;
(c) the ACT Government has been working directly with impacted businesses to individually case manage their circumstances and assist them in gaining access to both ACT and Commonwealth support;
(d) on 29 January, the ACT Government wrote to the Prime Minister seeking confirmation of access to Commonwealth Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements;
(e) on 12 February, the Commonwealth Government confirmed Disaster Recovery Assistance has been activated, including concessional interest rate loans for farmers and small businesses;
(f) the ACT Government has longstanding arrangements in place for tax deferrals and payment plans in special cases. If a small business has suffered significant economic loss as a result of the recent disasters, access to these arrangements will be considered on a case-by-case basis; and
(g) as well as not paying tax on their insurance, all small and most medium sized businesses in the ACT are also exempt from payroll tax, with the $2 million annual payroll tax threshold in the ACT being the most generous in the nation; and
(3) further notes the ACT Government:
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video