FINANCIAL support and the potential further easing of restrictions for regional Victoria has been welcomed by Member for Mildura Ali Cupper.
Victoria will gouge a further $3 billion into its budget to help businesses survive COVID-19 as the state begins a slow emergence from lockdown.
The Labor government on Sunday announced a suite of cash grants, payroll tax deferrals and fee waivers in a move Premier Daniel Andrews described as "the biggest package of business support in the history of this state".
The move comes as Mildura moves to Step 2 of the Government's roadmap for reopening at midnight Sunday which allows for small changes including five people being able to gather outdoors from two households, playgrounds and outdoor pools reopening.Ms Cupper said it was encouraging to hear Mr Andrews continue to say regional Victoria could potentially move to Step 3 this week – which would allow pubs, restaurants and cafes to have outdoor dining with patron limits, no restrictions on the reasons to leave home and outdoor sport for people 18 and under among the changes.
"There are now only 52 active cases in regional Victoria with a 4.1 case average, so if those numbers hold I would be hopeful we can move into Step 3 within days," Ms Cupper said.
Grants of between $10,000-$30,000 will be available for bars, restaurants, pubs, clubs and reception centres under the $251 million Licenced Venue Fund while 75,000 eligible businesses with payrolls up to $10m will receive grants of $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000 depending on their size.
"I was also encouraged to hear the Premier say announcements were coming soon about support packages for sole traders which have not been able to access the Business Support Fund grants to date," Ms Cupper said.
Ms Cupper also welcomed news that beauty services will now be able to reopen in Step 3 provided both the client and service provided wore masks.
The Victorian Government insisted that the measures "come off the back of substantial dialogue with business across all sectors".
There will be payroll tax deferrals for up to 12 months for businesses with payroll of up to $10 million a year, which will come at a cost of some $1.7 billion to the state, Treasurer Tim Pallas said.
The latest raft of measures relies on the state's "very strong budget" and takes to $6 billion Victoria's COVID-19 economic support, the government said.
"That is more than any other state, any territory and might I say in terms of a percentage of our own sourced revenue compared to the Commonwealth, it also challenges, if it doesn't exceed Commonwealth contributions," Mr Pallas said.
Mr Andrews expected about 80,000 businesses to receive support and promised the money will be distributed as soon as possible, as he reconfirmed the state was expected to reach 11 per cent unemployment by the end of 2020 .
The state on Sunday reported 41 new cases and seven further deaths.
The 14-day case average for regional Victoria sits at 4.1 and in Melbourne is 56.9, inching closer to the sub-50 target.
Mr Andrews said the figures were encouraging and aided the state's plan to ease lockdown restrictions, but he refused to rush the process.
"I can announce that we have extended the state of emergency and the state of disaster for a further four weeks," he said.
