Struggling businesses in parts of Victoria will now be able to apply for bushfire recovery grants after previously missing out on much-needed help.
Bushfire-affected business in the northeast alpine region of Victoria are able to receive grants of $10,000 after waiting months to become eligible.
Donovan Jacka from Tolpuddle Cheese - in the small Wangaratta town of Tarrawingee - said he had previously missed out on support because his business wasn't directly impacted by the bushfires.
Mr Jacka said his business was currently struggling against the downturn in tourism caused by the bushfire crisis and then the coronavirus pandemic.
“Basically, it’s the number one tourist time, but there has been no tourists. It’s been really, really tough,” he told SBS News.
“We were blanketed in smoke here, never under any threat from any fires, but the state of emergency meant everyone went home.”
The grants are for businesses that lost income during the summer's bushfire crisis and are available in the shires of Wangaratta, Indigo and Mansfield.
First announced in March, they were initially only available for regions that were hit directly by the fires.
It has been a similar story for Michael Dal Zotto and his Dal Zotto Wines winery in the nearby town of Whitfield.
Michael Dal Zotto owner of Dal Zotto Wines in Whitfield in Northeastern Victoria. Source: Supplied
“We had to drop fruit on the ground, so we weren’t able to harvest fruit,” he told SBS News.
“That mental impact of that is quite harsh.”
Helen Haines, who is the local member for the Victorian seat of Indi, has estimated the economic loss due to bushfires and coronavirus could be as much as $200 million in the region.
More than 200 homes were lost in Victoria as a result of the severe bushfires which blazed through the state in January. Source: Getty Images
While the region is expected to bounce back, Ms Haines stressed the long-term impacts could linger for years.
“The impact of the fire was beyond the actual burnt zone,” she said.
“Even for people not directly impacted by flames, the impact of these sustained, long, long summer of bushfires is having a terrible impact on people’s mental health.
“There are people across the nation traumatised by this.”
More than 1.2 million hectares burned in Victoria during January with more than 200 homes lost.
Helen Haines, the Independent MP for the Federal seat of Indi Source: Supplied
A relief fund worth $363 million has been set aside by the federal government, although $143 million of that amount is yet to be allocated.
Mr Jacka said short-term support programs would only go so far as rural and regional towns struggled to bounce back.
“Short term economic incentives don’t do anywhere near as much as long term investment into infrastructure," he said.
“Those are the things that are going to spend us out of this crisis – and, with due respect, it’s not bathroom renovations in the city.”
