Victorian Government assistance for businesses in response to Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to neglect providing any support for sole traders without employees.

The Victorian Government's $3 billion economic survival and jobs package is failing these Victorian sole traders, who continue to fall between the cracks and receive zero Victorian Government financial support despite the significant hardship imposed upon them by the lockdown conditions in Victoria.

Let's be fair to all Victorians and avoid forcing sole traders to make the impossible choice between not being able to provide for their families, or risking the lives of themselves and others by breaching lockdown.

Extend the financial support already being given to businesses that employ staff to also include small businesses run by sole traders that are currently disqualified from receiving financial support due to not having employees.

As reported by SmartCompany.com.au, Victorian minister for Industry Support and Recovery Martin Pakula has told 2GB the government could not afford to extend the grants to sole traders:

“In the first trance of Business Support Funds, we paid out $10,000 to 77,000 businesses. If we included sole traders, that number would have at least doubled, probably quadrupled,” he said.

“We simply don’t have the capacity to do that. We would have either had to increase the envelope by some billions of dollars or we would have had to reduce the payment to businesses from $10,000 to maybe $2,000. It wouldn’t have been appropriate support.”

Small businesses are the lifeblood of the Victorian Economy yet so often forgotten and overlooked. Sole traders in Victoria need the support of their government now more than ever.

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