Premium Content Small business owners are being squeezed out of rentals, pressured to sell their homes, and even pushed to suicide as the true toll of a post-pandemic economy reveals itself. Desperate businesses have inundated Small Business Commissioner Maree Adshead s office with 4500 calls, including more 760 related to leasing disputes, new figures show. About 70 per cent of those involved battles with landlords over the amount of COVID rent relief to be paid under commercial leasing protections introduced last year. Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland s Amanda Rohan said businesses were now dealing with the enormous strain of having to repay previously frozen rents while also recovering from the most recent lockdown without the safety net of government support or rent relief.
COVID rent crisis pushes small business owners to suicide
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COVID rent crisis pushes small business owners to suicide
news-mail.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news-mail.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Environment by Bronwyn Farr
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Subscriber only CAIRNS could face dire water restrictions by 2027 as the region s growth outstrips supply - and Cairns Regional Council is after a big-ticket item in the federal budget to remedy a looming crisis. The council wants $215m for its Cairns Water Security Stage 1 project which will involve water infrastructure on the Mulgrave River to deliver water into the main network, saying Copperlode Dam and Behana Creek will fail to meet future needs. Cairns Mayor Bob Manning says federal funding for Mulgrave River water infrastructure is essential for the region’s future. Picture: Brendan Radke