WAGE relief will continue for Coonawarra cellar door staff after the Federal Government announced its JobKeeper program would be extended beyond September.
Patrick of Coonawarra owner Luke Tocaciu said the subsidy helped offset a sudden drop in tourism earlier this year.
“It is good for our sector in the wine industry given we are in Coonawarra and that Victoria is quite heavily affected still because a lot of our tourism numbers come from across the border,” Mr Tocaciu said.
“JobKeeper assisted us to keep our staff while the cellar doors were shut and it helped us stay confident to keep those staff on board and engaged in the business.
“It has also taken some of the pressure off us to get through the first three to four months of this pandemic and now it has been extended into next year which is fantastic.”
However, the winery owner said travel restrictions had been a double-edged sword.
“Over the school holidays we still had a good number of people come through from South Australia, more than we normally would,” Mr Tocaciu said.
“Typically a large number of our visitors would be from Victoria however with the border restrictions still in place many have come from Adelaide instead.”
Labeling the increased number of intrastate visitors as a silver lining of the pandemic, he hoped the trend would continue post-COVID-19.
“A lot of the people I spoke to have wanted to come to the Limestone Coast for some time but never really had the opportunity,” he said.
JobKeeper will continue until March 28, 2021 under a two-tiered system, with the $1500 fortnightly flat payment reduced to $1200 per fortnight from September 28.
From January 4, 2021 the payments will then be reduced again to $1000 per fortnight.
A lower payment rate of $750 per fortnight will apply for those who work part-time of fewer than 20 hours per week from September 28 which will decrease to $650 from January.
