The state government's much-anticipated business support package will open for submissions next week but the plan is already drawing criticism from both the opposition and within the business community.
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Under the plan, which was unveiled by Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwien on Friday, businesses that have been negatively impacted by staffing issues resulting from close contact isolation requirements or that have noticed a significant downturn in revenue as a result of borders reopening can apply for up to $5000.
Details for the plan will be available from Monday, January 17 and applications open on Wednesday, January 19.
Two of the owner operators of Launceston cafe Samuel Pepy's, Jason Shelley and Terri Shadwick, both said they expect to apply for the grant but raised concerns about the low amount.
"This won't be sufficient for small businesses such as ourselves and certainly not for other hospitality businesses," Ms Shadwick said.
Ms Shadwick also noted that more substantial state government support programs over the last two years had helped the business continue operating, but she thought this latest program was unlikely to have an impact on their losses.
The owner operators noted that, while staffing issues hadn't been a major concern in recent weeks, the downturn in business following the border reopening had been difficult.
"We have tourists but maybe only 10 to 15 per cent of our regular customers are coming in," Mr Shelley said.
The support plan has also drawn criticism from Tasmanian Labor. Labor's Sarah Lovell noted that the $5000 figure was likely insufficient to cover the losses many businesses are facing.
"But what's even more concerning is that there was nothing in that support package for workers," she added.
That said, at the press conference on Friday when the premier outlined the plan he didn't rule out extending the package beyond the aforementioned dates and said he considered the first program as "tranche one".
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