5 minute read
Premier Praises Pubs’ “Extraordinary Sacrifice"
by Boylen
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 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.
“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.
“We had one night a couple of weeks ago, where of the 9900 hotel rooms in the city, over 9000 of them were occupied.
“The other thing we are doing is we are back in the business of getting a few major events.
“We've got a few irons in the fire and our fingers are crossed but the ones that we can guarantee of course are events such as the Adelaide 500 which no one believed we could bring back this year but it's on in only 6-7 weeks’ time.
“We are serious about honouring your sacrifice.”
SKILLS SHORTAGE
“On skills - and let me be frank with you - as a Labor leader, the greatest source of heartbreak for me is seeing people not having work that want it.
“In many respects we've got the reverse problem at the moment with the lowest unemployment rate in the state’s industry.
“The only issue that I'm hearing from business no matter where I go is ‘We need more people, we need more workers’.
“So in that regard I support turning back on the overseas migration quickly in the increase in the overseas migration intake.
“Malinauskas is not a name that came out on the First Fleet, so the more people we can bring in, the better.
“But we've also we've also got to be willing to invest in our talent at home and that is why we’re in the process of building five brand new technical colleges. Because I take the view that you don't have to go to university and get a degree to have a great life through a great vocation.
“Your industry is a great example of that and some of our technical colleges will be orientated towards hospitality skills.
“So all of these measures are aimed at doing what we can to assist one of the most labour intensive industries in our nation to be able to prosper, to be able to thrive
“And in that regard I think you are doing everything that you do so well, both the publicans in the room employing people but for the people that are at the frontline making sure that you are providing a fantastic offering.”
The Premier concluded by saying: “So keep up the good work and I hope the next 12 months give you the opportunity to have the confidence to know that we’re on the right track.
“And everyone hopefully is going to be able to have a big summer ahead, a few big nights of celebrating ahead and hopefully an even more prosperous 2023.”
