CHAMBER UPDATE – NEWSLETTER 15.10.2020

Dear all…..please find attached our latest newsletter. As you all can appreciate, these have been challenging times for business. To add a further layer of complexity to the current business climate is what we are all expecting to be the pending appointment of an Administrator to Central Coast Council following the disastrous financial revelations now engulfing the hapless organisation. From an anticipated deficit of $39M, we now learn that this has blown out to $89M with some expecting this to be even higher once a full financial audit of the Council is completed. It is almost inconceivable that last week Council had run out of cash and could not even afford to pay staff. Thankfully, the NSW State Government has stepped in and ensured that some 2,000 plus employees were paid. Like everyone in the business community, we will be watching closely as events unfold during this coming week and will be encouraging the NSW State Government to appoint an Administrator as soon as possible. We will also be calling for the Government to have the NSW Auditor General conduct a full investigation of the Council’s financial affairs. It almost goes without saying that we expect better from our local Councillors and to find our city is such dire straits is totally unacceptable.

Matthew Wales

President