Ugh!

For weeks now the premier of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian has been warning that the Covid situation is expected to peak in early October, that this is when the hospital system will be under the most stress.

This morning, the Premier announced that she and her political colleagues will no longer run daily Covid press conferences.

This is an appalling decision in my opinion. Cutting opportunity for scrutiny at the time it is most needed speaks volumes and crushes trust. The decision also sends the message that infection is no longer the story, opening it up to people to be less vigilant.

The NSW state government failed to appropriately deal with the latest Covid outbreak. Their decisions relating to reducing infection were weak, late and not backed with appropriate regulations and infrastructure. These failures let Covid infections increase – landing NSW where it is today, with an outbreak at a point that the government appears unable, or unwilling, to control.

Even yesterday, when the Premier was announcing plans to open up, she made it clear that local businesses would have to do the heavy lifting to check Covid vaccine status if they wanted to trade. This is yet another pass of of the buck by a government that is a master of abrogating responsibility.

It is right at this point, at the expected peak of Covid infection rate and hospitalisation, that people in the community crave leadership, they crave faith that it will be okay at some point in the future we can see. But, rather than provide that leadership, the Premier of NSW has decided, for some reason, to go into hiding.

The announcement today will negatively impact community confidence, consumer confidence. It also reduces the opportunity for scrutiny, which weakens democracy. This announcement today is bad for business. I am surprised that the Premier and her cabinet don’t see or understand this.

Right now, confidence is fragile. It needs support, from political and community leaders, for it is this confidence that fuels economic activity.

With the Premier Berejiklian and her state government going into hiding, it will be up to local small business more than ever to comfort and lead, through offering safe and easy shopping, connecting with the local community and helping keeping the wheels of commerce flowing. I see so many local small business retailers doing this every day. They should be proud of their service and the comfort this provides.

The announcement today by the NSW Premier to reduce opportunity for scrutiny would usually be ripped apart by news outlets. I have my doubts that will happen given the lobbying role News Corp and Nine Media outlets seem to play for the conservative side of politics.

Under the cover of Covid, banks are closing branches in Australia and removing ATMs in a shrinking of banking access. There is no consultation with customers, just an announcement or a sign on a front door.

Local bank branch closures are adding considerable cost to small business retailers in Australia.

While many bank branches closed under the first Covid lockdown back in March, plenty of these have since subsequently closed permanently.

In one of my own retail situations, in suburban Melbourne, our local bank branch, which is in walking distance, is closing. We face a 10 minute car drive, which means a roster change to deal with takings banking and disruption if we encounter a change shortage.

The closure of local bank branches makes going cashless more appealing to retailers. Maybe this is what the banks want. The retail network is expensive to maintain in terms of real estate and labour I guess.

While the closure of bank branches in March made sense, the continued closure after that lockdown ended was the first indication that banks were reconsidering their retail engagement.

Adding to the considerable number of bank branches that have closed in Australia, the closure of ATMs is impacting the shopper experience as well as the business owner experience. In another part of suburban Melbourne, one busy shopping street has seen five ATMs ripped out by banks.

Again, in my own experience, a local ATM at which we banked cheques, which are still a thing, has been removed, necessitating a drive as opposed to what was a short walk.

I get that all businesses are reassessing the infrastructure that is appropriate in a Covid and post-Covid (if it ever happens) world and that it makes sense that banks do this too. However, banks provide key services to Australians and local small businesses. They have a social responsibility to maintain these services. The extent of local bank branch closures in Australia will impact small businesses.

Again, in our own situation, for one of our shops, we are opening an account with a bank we have previously not dealt with as they have a branch a few minutes walk away and that is appealing compared to having to drive. It’s not ideal, but it is better than adding to our labour cost.