The CBD was due to get up to 75 per cent of workers in both the public and private sector back in the office from Monday. But a big fat spanner was thrown in the works when one case of COVID-19 leaked out of a hotel quarantine housing tennis players during the week.It was enough to give Premier Daniel Andrews a serious case of the heebee jeebees.Why wouldn’t he panic after he completely mangled hotel quarantine last time round. A late-night press conference was where the power-hungry premier delivered his kneejerk reaction to “pause” the amount of workers who could return to the office from Monday. The thresholds would be staying put at 50 per cent of private sector workers and 25 per cent of public sector workers allowed back in. But these decisions are crippling our great city’s centre.Businesses are screaming out for workers to come back after nearly 12 months of pain and no end in sight. There’s been no data and science shown to the public to reveal what triggers these snap decisions, it’s all done behind closed doors by politicians and bureaucrats on full pay.They haven’t felt any impacts to their hip pockets, they have continued to receive their healthy taxpayer funded salaries throughout this entire crisis. Lucky them. I was in the CBD last week, a city far from what it once was. Streets were bare, shopping centres weren’t busy and many cafes and restaurants were closed for business.
The CBD has been haemorrhaging money the longer employees have stayed at home working from the comfort of their couches. The federal government has propped up many of these businesses but with the JobKeeper tap about to be turned off next month, trouble is brewing.If Premier Andrews is true to his word and “we are all in this together” then he needs to get workers back now, not in a few weeks, or a few months. The CBD economy is built around office workers coming into the city’s heart and spending up. Whether it’s having meetings in venues around town, catching up for coffee or lunch, picking up the dry-cleaning, purchasing new clothes or books, or having after-work drinks, every dollar spent helps. And muzzling workers certainly isn’t going to help. Why sit at your desk covered up with a face mask when you can kick back at home in your tracksuit pants and ugg boots, minus a mask?It’s long overdue to get more workers back to their desks before it’s too little, too late.
sophie.elsworth@news.com.au
@sophieelsworth
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