Premier Praises Pubs’ “Extraordinary Sacrifice”
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas has paid tribute to the hotel sector for paying the greatest price to protect the community during COVID-19. “I am very conscious of the fact that a lot of South Australians have actually done well economically throughout the pandemic, only because a smaller number of South Australians paid an extraordinary sacrifice,” he said “Business owners, individual workers giving up their labour, their means, in the name of other people’s safety. “It was a big price to pay. “And more than any other industry in our nation, you paid that price,” he told 900 publicans and their staff at the AHA|SA Awards. “You paid that price so that literally other people could maintain their health.” GOVERNMENT’S DEBT TO HOTEL INDUSTRY The Premier said that after winning the election, “I was very, very determined to repay that debt that your industry has given. “To make sure that we do a few things to allow you the opportunity to get back on your feet as quickly as possible. “The first thing we did was change the management of the pandemic in South Australia to ensure that it was Cabinet that was ultimately responsible for all the decisions that were made and we immediately 14 | Hotel SA | W W W . A H A S A . A S N . A U
committed to giving ourselves a deadline of ending the emergency management declaration. “We committed that we will start applying national consistency as being a chief consideration in everything we do on easing restrictions. That has allowed us to not just be part of the journey to ease restrictions but in some instances lead the way.” “The second thing we did was put our hand in your pocket and made sure that the stimulus that came out of the state budget had a deliberate preference - a deliberate emphasis - on supporting those industries that needed it most.
“More than any other industry in our nation, you paid that price.” “Live music is one of those, which is why we put $10 million into the See It Live grants; over 5000 grants to give musos the opportunity to play in your venues to attract patrons into your locations.” The Premier said a $45 million boost up front to increase tourism marketing to increase hotel occupancy across the state was “shooting the lights out”. “We’ve had record week on the back of record week in overnight stays in South Australia,” he told guests at the AHA|SA Awards. Back to Contents
