Push to reopen region’s economy

BUSINESS advocates are calling for the Geelong region to be part of vaccinated economy trials, as more major events are cancelled or restricted, and venues remain closed.

With local vaccination rates among the highest in the state, Geelong Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Ben Flynn says there is light at the end of the tunnel, but the chamber is pushing for changes to the Victoria Roadmap.

In recent weeks, Mr Flynn has spoken to Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas, Small Business Minister Jaala Pulford and all local state and federal MPs about the tough situation for businesses and the wider community.

“We’re pushing really hard and I have no doubt that the government is listening and knows the impact on business, but there are a range of stakeholders and health priorities,” he said.

“We want to see the removal of caps for venues and go with the density quotas (venue capacity based on per square metre), and that’s in line with New South Wales.

“We’d like to see Melbourne travelling to the regions again as soon as it’s safe to do so and we really want leadership on mandatory vaccination in the workplace so businesses are not in the firing line.

“We’re always looking to work with government… and let them know how business is feeling.”

Mr Flynn said while Greater Geelong was not one of the areas selected for the first vaccinated economy trials, despite its high vaccination rate, the chamber would be pushing for the region to be included in trials as soon as possible.

The trials will see a small number of venues such as pubs, cafes and tourist attractions in areas across regional Victoria with high vaccination rates and low numbers of COVID-19 cases open up to fully vaccinated people in mid-October.

Meanwhile, Mr Flynn said the Victorian Roadmap wasn’t helping a lot of businesses and hadn’t supported the region’s major events that were being cancelled for a second year or forced to go online or crowd-free.

“I’m disappointing for all those events that expected things to be different and all those local businesses that rely on those events. It’s heartbreaking.

“Our wedding venues are taking bookings for 2023 because people have already booked and had to cancel so many times that they’re not even worrying about booking for next year.

“I spoke to about 30 businesses when the roadmap came out and they were really disappointed.

“They said they felt like they were languishing, having to make those hard decisions on staff and people’s lives, and we were going into lockdown at the same time.

“The data probably didn’t justify a lockdown and every time we reopen there’s different rules; that’s hard for businesses.”

Mr Flynn said businesses needed certainty to look forward to a busy summer after Christmas without restrictions, if it was safe to do so.