Fotini Kypraios, Chair of Hellenic Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc (Victoria) (HACCI): I think as much as the government is trying to open up safely more could be done to provide clarity for business.
While there is some light at the end of the tunnel. it is still a long road ahead. Hospitality industry, tourism and business owners are languishing under lockdown and need their businesses to be re-opened sooner rather than later.
While the government has sought to appease many stakeholders. It has taken a conservative approach prioritising health considerations and the capacity of the hospital system to cope, but it has been at the expense of other sectors. Businesses expected a bit more and sooner.
We need to get everyone to get back to work and the children to go back to school.
While we are all looking to November or December for things to open up, no dates have been set with any certainty. Businesses have to the end of October to plan but there is still a lot of uncertainty to contend with.
We have to be positive and understand where we are all coming from.
Requiring industries to adopt mandatory vaccination is problematic. The biggest problem is that employers and business owners are going to be the gatekeepers of government policy and have to enforce the rules (from government) It is a complex situation and is dependent on specific circumstances of each industry. Compliance and enforcement will be challenging and there is no silver bullet.
Employers will need legal advice to ensure the steps they take are reasonable as there is no real direction from the courts yet- it is all new and no real guidance available out there.
Constructive dialogue is needed that will allow the industry bodies and unions to negotiate with the government rather than industries being shut down and (resorts to) violence.
READ MORE: Roadmap out of lockdown announced
George Georgiou, President Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Australia: The announced road map is not near enough for what business needs to resume and the situation has been made much worse with the shutdown of building construction (in Victoria) and the threats of industrial action.
The Road Map needs to offer a lot more but much more needs to be done for the hardest-hit industries of hospitality and tourism. When we get to 70percent vaccinations we should open all restaurants. Also it is all very well to open up outside spaces but what happens when we get cold and rainy days. How does it help restaurants and coffee shops that need bums on seats?
Also why can the QR coding not reflect the vaccination status of the customer. Why are the QR codes and vaccination certificates not linked so that restaurant owners know immediately the customers who are properly vaccinated.
There is great inconsistency and critics are calling for Victoria to follow the example set by New South Wales where their roadmap is better than Victoria’s. Both states are relying on modelling provided by the same Burnet Institute yet Melbourne and Victoria going harder at it than the other states.
The day after the Premier Daniel Andrews announces his roadmap to recovery, he shuts down Geelong and the Sunshine Coast because of a few cases. There is inconsistency in all this.
He has gone harder, earlier and faster yet the lockdowns are extended.
Sam Iliades, CEO Australian Corporate Jet Centres Group: From my point of view there is no certainty offered in the road map out of lockdown and when the states will open up. People will book flights with us and then a lockdown (is in place) and they have to cancel their plans, then it is all back on. There is confusion and different interpretations of what we can do. We need to know how the states will go so that we and our customers can know what to do.
The aviation industry has been one of the industries most heavily impacted by lockdowns along with tourism and hospitality.
We do carry out some international flights such as for medical supplied but when the crew returns, they have to go into quarantine for 14 days so that we cannot operate (for that time. We are stumbling along getting the job and waiting for our crews to clear.
People have been cooped up for so long that when the borders open, they will to travel to re-establish contacts for business and family reasons.
There is interest growing and we will get busy post-COVID after November, but we need to hear when things open up and that will depend on vaccination rates.
I think people are frustrated and families in aviation are suffering – some have not worked for a long time. We need to hold on a bit longer.
READ MORE: Liacos leads fight to keep Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market landmark viable in COVID times
Stan Liacos, CEO of Queen Victoria Proprietary Limited which administers Queen Victoria Market for the City of Melbourne: We would naturally have liked a more optimistic and encouraging roadmap out of lockdown for Victoria but there is enough there to give confidence for business to recover.
The pandemic has been devastating on Queen Victoria Market for us and the 600 traders – we have provided rent relief to support the tenants, there have no events, no tourism and very little revenue from parking and we have also faced high COVID-compliance costs.
We need to be aware of community safety and have to take the pandemic seriously. We respect the government’s cautious approach and it should be commended in protecting human life.
The roadmap does indicate that when vaccination rates reach above 70 and 80 percent around the end of October, I think they will be confident of picking an accurate number for dates. Within a month the vaccination numbers will be at a decent level but we will not be going from 0 to 100 overnight – it has to be done sensibly or we will lose everything we have sought to achieve.
There is a lot of pent-up energy from Victorians who want to spend and be active again. It is about business but it is also requires a respectful analysis of the health situation.
Sia Psicharis, director of Beautyologist Beauty Salon: The Victoria Roadmap out of Lockdown gives us some hope and excitement to get back to caring for peoples skin. It has been a very long time since we put down our tools in Aug.
I would rather not look back at the last 19 months. My focus has been about moving forward with what we can control and that is focusing on keeping my team supported, our community safe and, of course, business alive. We are grateful that we will reopen before Christmas and ask communities to support their local small businesses. It will be a balancing act as we will be busy with clients who need urgent skin treatments on top of the busy Christmas trade.
The plan for us will be to open up slowly with a gentle and safe flow. We are extending hours to ensure recommended density limits are in place and are working very closely with Worksafe, Fairwork and our Beauty and Retail Associations to ensure a safe workplace for all our team and guests.