A senior minister has cancelled a trip to a fire-affected community in order to prepare a business assistance package in response to the bushfires.The head of the insurance industry wants to make sure people are treated with"dignity and compassion"It follows increasing calls from businesses and employees in regions affected by bushfires for more assistance, due to the low level of support offered by existing payments.
"That would then give $500,000 loans — interest-free, repayment-free for two years — that will help them rebuild their cash flow, that's an important aspect of it, and it would allow them to even refinance some of their own debt from a commercial bank to the [Regional Investment Corporation] just to give them some breathing space."last year to provide loans of up to $500,000 for small businesses affected by drought. Larger businesses have access to loans of up to $2 million.
But many will still lose out. One ABC reader said they worked as an auditor on food safety and their work in fire-affected areas had been pushed back by 12 months or more. Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Rob Whelan said he wanted to make sure"people are treated with dignity and compassion".
"This may mean the waiving of fees and charges, this may mean cash advances to deal with some of the cash flow shortages, this may mean the deferral of interest and principal repayments on their loans," he said.
But only interest free for two years?
Didn't they have insurance?
FatherBob How about the government make Rupert Murdoch, Google, Apply, et al, pay their share of tax in this country? Just an idea for how to fund this relief effort.
how about we take the 29 Billion this year that we would give to the fossil fuel industries and simply put it to better use. rebuild communities - make them examples for future towns as net zero! insurance can, and must, pay for the damage. they can sue big oil later! auspol
Loans. LOANS. Surely they should be spending OUR TAX PAYER DOLLARS to get the country back on it's feet. Maybe collect some of that tax that big business forgets to pay each year to help offset it
They need to reclaim the money from coal and mining communities and compensate rather than this. Please Sort it out JoshFrydenberg ScottMorrisonMP AlboMP SenatorWong DanielAndrewsMP