While the Morrison government’s $130 billion JobKeeper package and a range of other measures to help businesses survive the coronavirus crisis have been widely welcomed, Australia’s nascent boutique brewery industry fears it’s been completely overlooked in the stimulus efforts.
Parliament passed the massive wage subsidy plan on Wednesday, but the government resisted attempts to expand the eligibility of workers who qualified for the $750 a week payment and the Independent Brewers Association (IBA) believes that decision will kill off an industry where many of the startup founders run their breweries as a side hustle and don’t draw a salary or employ full-time staff.
