News
2 Jun 2021
$20 Million Event Assistance is a Welcome Step In Supporting Victoria’s Event Industry
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The Victoria’s government’s announcement on 30 May of $20 million in Event Assistance is a modest, but much needed, step in the right direction.
It is also a very welcome, but long overdue, acknowledgement of our Event Industry – an industry that makes such a huge contribution to life in Victoria.
And it is a direct response to the extensive lobbying that has been done by Save Victorian Events and others in recent weeks – including many of you contacting your local members of parliament. It is also in response to members of the event industry telling their real stories to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry and to the media.
Until this announcement, there really hadn’t been any targeted financial support to people and businesses in Victoria’s event industry – despite it being one of the very hardest hit industries.
For the first time the (Acting) Premier and Treasurer have stood up to speak at length about the need to support people and businesses in Victoria’s Event Industry. This is a big step forward for us all.
We are also pleased to say that the $190 million in direct support to businesses affected by the lockdown – with grants of $2,500 – has been extended to include sole traders to ensure that as many event industry businesses as possible are eligible for this grant. Again, in direct response to feedback from the event industry.
We will share more information over the coming week once the detail is known.
We have never stopped advocating for much needed support for people and businesses in our industry.
There have been a huge number of meetings over the last six weeks including with the Minister for Tourism and the most senior people in Treasury at the Federal level and with numerous Victorian MPs and public servants at the state level – as we continue to push the case for real support. These conversations are happening every day.
We have been making sure that every time Victoria’s parliament sits, that the event industry gets mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNMXtDODL7w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cc7ln2kgj4
The Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry has been great for getting MPs to hear the real stories of our industry – including most recently Madison Fitzgerald – Destination, Matt Jones – Norwest Group, Bea Tomlin – Beaspoke Safety and Damian De Jong – Action Events.
This Wednesday – June 2 – sees a third day of hearings with event people including:
11:45am – Sue Ryman-Kiernan – Wise Connections12:15pm – Jamie Lea – JL Productions2:15pm – Steve Smith – DG Global2:45pm – Jason Holmes – H2 Insurance
You can watch the hearings here: https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/video-and-audio/live-broadcasting
To reiterate, today is a significant step forward, but it is just one step.
The last few weeks have seen many good events happening again – which was great to see and we should share images of these events widely to continue to build confidence about events. But we also know that this is an incredibly difficult time for many people and businesses in our industry – and there is, realistically, a long road ahead. And, the lockdown is having a really significant impact on many.
We continue to push the government to support Covid cancel event insurance to encourage more events to happen. And, continue to push for broader financial support for businesses in the event industry.
Save Victorian Events is also pushing the government to set up an Event Industry Recovery Taskforce to immediately start work on practical measures to support the Event Industry, to minimise the loss of events, and aid it’s recovery. A taskforce comprising a cross section of members of the Event Industry, DJPR, DH and chaired by a Minister. So today is a good step forward. And, a practical acknowledgement by the Victorian government that the voices of our industry are being heard.
And we will keep ensuring your voices are heard and will keep you updated as we navigate the coming week.
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