Blue Mountains cafe owner, Dora Tsaroumis, has welcomed the Federal and NSW Government’s new COVID-19 relief measures announced this week, saying the stimulus gives her hope for the future.
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Mrs Tsaroumis, who owns Cafe Leura, said her business is completely closed with 12 staff on annual leave and long-service leave.
“It’s crippling… We provide a dine-in experience and we’re in a high tourist area that doesn’t have a lot of population around,” Mrs Tsaroumis told the SMH.
“To stay open and try to do takeaway wasn’t going to be a model that worked for us. We decided to close to try to reduce our costs as much as possible.”
Cafe Leura’s average turnover is about $30,000 a week but higher during school holidays, the SMH reports.
Whilst Mrs Tsaroumis says this latest lockdown will see her lose “hundreds of thousand of dollars,” the recent relief measures will be helpful.
“I’m feeling more hopeful [with the relief measures]. It’s not going to be like trading but it will be helpful. How long can you tread water? You get tired,” Mrs Tsaroumis adds to The Greek Herald.
“We’re keen to get back to running our business and doing what we love, not only for us and our team but for our awesome customers as well.”
Among the various relief package benefits, businesses can access grants up to $15,000, a $10,000 federal cash flow boost, as well as receive payroll tax waivers and get protection from evictions.
There’s a short-term moratorium on evictions for tenants in arrears, and commercial landlords are being incentivised with land tax waivers if they provide tenants rental relief. Meanwhile, individual employees who have lost work can access $600 a week in disaster payments directly from the federal government.
READ MORE: Federal and NSW govts announce Covid support package for Sydney businesses and residents.
