News

small business | July 02, 2018

Yes Daniel, pay what you owe!

The Nationals Member for Lowan Emma Kealy MP says it is unacceptable that it has taken four years and the intervention of the local Member for Parliament for the Andrews Labor Government to pay $6,894.45 of accumulated government debt to a local small business.

“Daniel Andrews recently tweeted that getting paid what you’re owed shouldn’t be a battle, so why did it take his government four years to pay an accumulated debt to a local small business?” Ms Kealy said.

The debt related to 52 individual invoices dating back as far as 2014 for purchases made by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources.

The owners of the small business contacted Ms Kealy in April feeling they had exhausted all avenues to recoup the monies owed to them by the Andrews Labor Government.

Ms Kealy highlighted the Labor Government’s bad debt in Parliament and demanded the Andrews Labor Government take immediate action to pay the amount owing.

“While I was proud to fight for a better deal for this local small business, the situation should never have got to this point and it is disgraceful that Labor had to be shamed into paying this debt,” Ms Kealy said.

“Our small businesses are already struggling to keep up with escalating energy costs caused by Labor’s closure of Hazelwood and it shouldn’t take intervention by the local MP to get Labor to pay their debts.

“We need a government that supports small business in regional Victoria, not one that treats important local employers with contempt.

“This is just another example of the city centric Andrews Labor Government’s blatant disregard for small business in rural and regional Victoria.

“If elected in November, the Nationals will deliver a better deal for small business in country Victoria,” she said.