Peter Gutwein,Premier
The Tasmanian Liberal Government’s priority is to keep Tasmanians safe and secure, and we are taking the steps needed to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
We recognise the importance of ensuring government service continuity during these difficult times, and that is why the passing of the COVID-19 Disease Emergency Bill 2020 in Parliament last week was important.
Under this Bill the Government can offer a range of support to Tasmanians suffering financial hardship and also adjust the operation of a range of statutory requirements as a result of the emergency situation. There will be a number of notices issued to put these arrangements in place, including:
- Prevention of eviction of residential tenants in certain circumstances for a period of 90 days.
- The waiver or deferral of fees and charges announced in our stimulus and economic support packages;
- The relaxing of certain shop trading hour restrictions such as allowing Good Friday trading for supermarkets should they choose to open; and
- Changing permit conditions to enable deliveries of supplies and freight outside of normally permitted delivery times.
Furthermore, support from the State and Federal Governments is available for businesses whether they have been forced to close, have closed themselves due to market conditions or are suffering lower turnover or financial hardship as a result of COVID-19. This means for businesses especially those such as small retailers or hairdressers for example, that you can access Government support without having to be forcibly closed.
These are challenging times, but together we will get through this. The Tasmanian Government has announced a record almost $1 billion in stimulus and support packages, including support for our local businesses and workforce severely impacted by this crisis.
The Federal Government’s $130 billion JobKeeper package is also available to help those in need during this time.
