Council says ‘timing is everything’ in calls for business recovery funding

The letter calls on the Victorian and federal governments to urgently introduce targeted, disaster-specific recovery grants for businesses directly and indirectly impacted by the January bushfires.

Murrindindi Shire Mayor Damien Gallagher said the letter reflected the severity of the situation facing local businesses, with many experiencing a worsening cashflow crisis following a subdued Easter trading period.

“We have written an open letter to the Minister for Small Business and Employment because the situation for our local businesses has become critical,” he said.

“Without direct state and Commonwealth recovery funding, many simply will not survive.”

Council is advocating for the introduction of recovery grants for businesses able to demonstrate significant loss of trade and clear viability risk as a result of the fires.

It says the proposed approach would better reflect the realities of rural and regional economies by recognising small, mixed and diversified enterprises, including farm-based and tourism-related businesses that fall outside current primary producer eligibility criteria.

“The absence of any business-specific disaster recovery funding following these fires is creating a growing sense of inequity,” Cr Gallagher said.

“Eligibility rules need to recognise the diversity of modern regional businesses and the scale of income loss they’ve experienced.

“If businesses quietly close over the coming months, those losses will be felt across entire communities for years to come.”

Council advised that it was ready to work closely with state and Commonwealth agencies to support the effective design and delivery of any future business recovery programs.

“We are ready to work with government to ensure support is targeted, practical and delivered quickly,” Cr Gallagher said.

“This funding must come forward now, while recovery remains possible.

“Timing is everything, and we have requested urgent consideration of these measures and welcome further discussions with government.”