Business owners ‘pay the price’ of lockdown

Restaurant owner Luke Stepsys says businesses owners are the ones who will “pay the price” of the Victoria’s fourth lockdown and they need to be compensated. “Us business owners, we have substantial overheads to cover and we can’t afford to have businesses closed an we keep paying bills with zero income,” he said. Mr Stepsys said if the current lockdown extends beyond seven days his businesses will have been closed for over 200 days across the four state lockdowns. “All of these businesses need to be compensated … immediately for the losses that they will suffer by the failure of the Victorian government to protect the state," he said. “How do we pay our staff? How do they put food on the table this week?” Mr Stepsys told Sky News it took the state government took nearly four weeks to provide businesses with a “measly sum” of $3,000 following the last lockdown. “I’m just a small to medium size mum and dad business and the last five-day lockdown cost me $150,000, so what is $3,000 meant to compensate?" he said. “It’s integral that I survive so I can provide employment for nearly 100 local Victorians”.

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