By Mitchell Clarke
Struggling pubs, cafes and restaurants have been dealt yet another bitter blow, with even more uncertainty ahead as to when seated dining can officially return.
Local eateries and waterholes can reopen to more than just takeaway from 11.59pm on 1 November, but Premier Daniel Andrews has flagged that date could be brought forward.
“If we continue to track well on the most important indicators – case averages, mystery cases, test numbers and the number of days people wait before they get tested – we may be in a position to move sooner,” he said.
“We’ll review this data each and every day this week and when we get to next weekend, if we can move any earlier and do it safely, we will.”
The highly awaited Third Step of the roadmap towards a Covid normal will allow hospitality, personal services and retail to reopen – albeit in a limited capacity.
But a return to onsite dining has been welcomed by resilient traders, who have been reliant on takeaway to make ends meet.
Copper and Fox assistant venue manager David Murray said it was good to finally have some much needed clarity.
“It’s good to have a date, but it’s still quite late and probably needed to be sooner to save a lot of businesses,” he said.
“When you consider all the outbreaks and case numbers, hospitality was one of the safest industries during the Stage 2 lockdown, so in that regard, I do believe we should have opened earlier.”
Thankfully for the Lakeside restaurant, takeaway has – up until now – been booming throughout each lockdown.
“We actually found it helped our business out, especially at the beginning of Covid. It really helped us a lot in terms of getting exposure,” Mr Murray explained.
“We managed to find new regular customers, so I guess it was a blessing in disguise in the beginning, but we’ve seen a decrease in revenue since JobKeeper and Job Seeker payments were cut. We’ve noticed an instant drop off in the past couple of weeks.”
Mr Murray hopes people will feel inspired to spend locally and opt to eat out as restrictions ease.
“I’m looking forward to having bar service and serving alcohol again – just being able to have customers experience food and service the way it’s intended,” he said.
“Instead of food arriving warm, it’ll come to the table nice and fresh and be presented more neatly and extravagant.”
Meanwhile in Garfield, Brad Alden-Brown, who owns The Garfield hotel and Little Miss Hangry cafe, said the industry should’ve been able to trade earlier.
“We’ve all got Covid safe plans and as far as I’m aware, no hospitality businesses have been responsible for spreading the virus,” he said.
“It does seem that the Premier has smashed privatised businesses. My honest opinion is that he’s dragging it on … He’s opened up building sites which are union based with 300 blokes sharing tools.
“We just want some transparency, tell us why it’s not safe to reopen now but it is in a week, and don’t bulls*** us anymore.”
Mr Alden-Brown was forced to shut his Little Miss Hangry cafe for much of the pandemic, but reopened to maintain a visible presence.
“There’s three cafes in Garfield fighting for 100 coffees, so what’s the point in staying open,” he said.
“The pub has been doing takeaway and delivery. We’re very lucky because we have great community support with the pub.”
With the lockdowns causing Victorian pubs to accrue $500 million in debt, Liberal Gembrook MP Brad Battin said now was the time to safely open hospitality again.
“We need to get back to work. NSW has similar cases per day, and with Victoria failing to open, it is an admission by Labor they have failed in contact tracing,” he said.
