Victorian pub changes its name and loses COVID support payments
An East Gippsland pub is trying to get over $100,000 in COVID business support cash they claim the Victorian Government has denied them due to a criteria anomaly.
When Marlo Hotel’s owners Guy Wells and two other business partners took over the hotel last August it was just before another statewide lockdown was announced.
They changed the pub’s trading name and for some reason the venue which was receiving Covid assistance grants with the previous owner, was suddenly no longer eligible for those same grants.
Gippsland East MP Tim Bull will raise the issue in state parliament this week.
“We feel we’ve been left in a financial black hole,” Wells said.
“We had to make a decision ‘do we tip all the staff out and burn some relationships very early on or do we grit our teeth and bank on the government having our back?
“We ploughed on and our biggest customers for takeaway in that time were Victoria Police and the others doing border patrols.
“So in essence we’ve supported the government’s employees, but we’ve not been supported by the government.”
According to Bull it was “dead set disgraceful” that the new owners did not have the chance to register for funding, with no new applications taken.
“Simply because they changed the trading name the payments stopped,” Bull said.
“But the Marlo pub is the Marlo pub and it was getting the money.
“They were doing all the right things, staying open, keeping their staff on and doing takeaway meals.
“It could be the only pub in Victoria that changed hands during Covid and had their money cut off.”
The Marlo pub owners are also being supported by the Australian Hoteliers Association who is lobbying the government.
Irit Jackson, 7th June 2022
