A hairdresser has criticized a budget as insufficient, claiming it won’t be enough to keep small businesses running amid the cost of living crisis.
Deborah Bradshaw, who runs a salon at Balmain in sydneyof the inland-west of , stated that the $500 relief to energy bills simply will not be enough.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the booklet will be a central point of the budget, which will be delivered by the Albanian government in parliament on Tuesday.
The $500 comes as the country’s cost-of-living crisis worsens with inflation by a maximum of seven percent.
Ms Bradshaw revealed that the cost of running a business had pushed her to the limit and she even sacrificed her own salary to keep her salon of 15 years running.
Small business owner Deborah Bradshaw (pictured) has criticized a potential deferral of the $500 energy bill in the next budget because it’s not enough to keep hers and other businesses open.
“Small business is tough, but right now it’s very, very difficult,” Ms Bradshaw told Today’s Channel Nine on Tuesday.
“We have no idea what the next few months will bring us.”
Ms Bradshaw said she managed to keep her business open for the past 15 years and through the most difficult time when the covid pandemic hit the country.
She said the next few months would be the most crucial with rising operating costs, rent and electricity bills becoming harder to control.
Host Karl Stefanovic asked how long the proposed $500 energy bill relief would last, prompting Ms. Bradshaw to offer a forceful response.
“Not much,” she said. ‘The amount of energy it takes to run a hair salon, the amount of energy my restaurant friends use, their outlets go to the gas heaters outside.
We have to keep our customers warm.
Ms Bradshaw said the rent increases for businesses were an added blow.
“Rent also goes up 7.8 percent on commercial properties each year,” he said.
In an effort to help keep her business and staff afloat, Ms. Bradshaw also stopped paying herself a salary.
“For me, my staff is very important, they are like family and I need those guys there in the next three, six and 12 months,” he said.
“I’m trying to protect them, to protect the business.”
She revealed that other small business owners in the suburb have become “really worried” about the future.
They fear that if the relief does not keep pace with rising costs and declining retail spending, they will be forced out of business.
“Even during COVID, you know, I felt like we were getting some relief and some help,” Ms Bradshaw said.
‘We felt like we were all in this together this time.
‘It’s been a long time since I cared so much about myself and all the small businesses around me.
“Seeing businesses close, that’s terrifying.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers (pictured) is expected to present the full budget around 7:30 pm Tuesday, with speculation that the government will run a surplus for the first time in 15 years.
Senior retirees, Commonwealth Senior Health Card holders, small businesses and welfare recipients will be the biggest beneficiaries of the $500 electric bill plan.
For families, households receiving income support under Family Tax Benefit A and B will also be targets of the brochure.
More than 5.5 million households and 1 million businesses will receive up to $500 in aid in total.
‘In most states and territories, retailers will take it off your bill. For most people, it’s in the third trimester of the bill,” Dr Chalmers confirmed to News.com.au.
“This is all about taking some of the sting out of higher electricity prices.”
How much households and businesses save will depend on where you live.
“It will be different across the country, we have reached eight different agreements with different jurisdictions,” added Dr. Chalmers.
Single workers and families making more than six figures are the cohorts most likely to miss out on cuts to their bills.
The government has set income threshold limits for families that depend on the number of children in a household and their respective ages.
This is determined by whether a household qualifies for family tax benefits.
For families with one child, the limit is a combined income of more than $108,000.
The threshold is raised slightly to $114,000 for families with two children from zero to 12 years old or one child from zero to 12 years of age and one from 13 to 19 years of age in high school.
The limit is $117,000 for families with two children ages 13 to 19 in high school.
This increases when there are three or more children in a household.
Families with three teens in high school can have a combined income of up to $140,000 before they are no longer eligible for the brochure.
Households with four children will be capped at between $147,000 and $157,000, depending on the ages of the children.
More details on the edibility criteria for the government’s electricity relief booklet will be revealed when the budget is delivered on Tuesday.