An Auckland mall owner is accusing the Government of being “naïve” to the reality small and medium business owners are facing due to Covid-19.
Dallas Pendergrast, co-owner of Ladstone Glenfield Ltd, told the Epidemic Response Committee today it was “unacceptable” that retailers had to endure a minimum of two further weeks under Alert Level 3 lockdown.
Ms Pendergrast and her husband own Glenfield Mall, which has 115 tenants. She said she had concerns about her tenants and other small business owners around the country.
"This will cause many of them to fail and at the same time push them to the point where they can no longer contain the significant amount of stress that comes when people are put into situations that are out of their control,” she told the committee.
“All have commitments they can’t possibly meet, many with young families with no income whatsoever.”
She said apart from larger chains, there won’t be a change for most small retailers under Alert Level 3 when compared to Level 4.
Ms Pendergrast said she’d already halved her tenants’ rent and operating expenses in April and will halve it again in May, meaning she’s had to dip into her own pockets.
“We’re not asking them to pay anything back. My husband and I will just have to absorb that loss,” she said. Mr and Ms Pendergrast was named in NBR’s rich list last year .
In the meantime, she said the cost of running the mall remained at $500,000 a month.
"Our Prime Minister is asking landlords to show compassion. We're already doing that. We're already trying hard to support our tenants," Ms Pendergast said.
"It's naïve to say 'show some compassion'. Compassion doesn't pay our bills. Doesn't the New Zealand Government realise the landlords' overheads continue as well?”
She said the Government was “out of touch” about the hardship small businesses were facing and had “almost completely ignored” the needs of small businesses apart from introducing the Wage Subsidy Scheme.
“Many of them simply will not survive,” Ms Pendergast said.
Ms Pendergast said Jacinda Ardern thanking small businesses last week was an "insult".
“They don’t want thank yous. They want to get back to work. In the meantime, they want a helping hand to pay their expenses. what an insult that was," she told the committee.
She said many businesses were scared to go to the bank because they were uncertain about the future.
Ms Pendergast also questioned why retailers weren’t able to open under Alert Level 3 given only a “handful of new cases” were announced each day.
Labour MP Michael Woodhouse questioned that, asking her whether a strong “short, sharp” response to transition back to normal would be better than risking a return into lockdown with fewer restrictions.
"There are so few people who have been affected by this virus in New Zealand and the worst is over," Ms Pendergrast said.
Dr Siouxsie Wiles on TVNZ1’s Breakfast this morning warned against returning to normal life quickly.
"If we basically start treating life as normal now, if there are some cases there - we'll start to see that exponential growth again, and this has been seen in other countries," she said.
When asked today to address the concerns raised at the select committee, Ms Ardern said a cautious approach down the Alert Levels is required.
She said having to go back to Alert Level 4 “would be terrible for New Zealand's health but also the economy”.
“It is about moving with certainty in the hope that we don't go backwards.”
Ms Ardern also encouraged dialogue between tenants and commercial landlords.
“There are limitations on how far we could go as a Government,” she said of commercial leases.
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