Tuesday, 21 June 2022

 Mr DIMOPOULOS (Oakleigh) (13:05): There were very few good things that came out of the pandemic in the last couple of years, but one of them was a bigger focus on outdoor dining across Victoria. Our government, the Andrews Labor government, partnered with councils and businesses across Victoria to provide more opportunities in public spaces for outdoor dining. It was well received in my electorate and I know in other parts of Victoria. It enhanced the areas where they were quite economically depressed over the pandemic years. It also provided some activity for the community and for businesses. Several traders in my electorate invested significant money to create some really desirable spaces, including Wines on Poath in Hughesdale, Greca Street in Oakleigh and Vanilla Lounge in Oakleigh.

In addition to that, our government provided $1.5 million to Monash council to establish permanent and semipermanent spaces. It is a big success that so many other councils around Victoria are talking to their traders and continuing this arrangement—but not Monash council. They have told businesses that these spaces will need to be shut down by 30 June, despite some traders offering to pay in order to continue those spaces. This is bad not just for traders but for the community, who want to have more safe spaces to recreate and to dine out. It is also a denial of how hard the last couple of years have been both for businesses and for the community. I again call on Monash council to do what almost every other council in Victoria is doing, including the councils surrounding Monash: to allow these traders to continue these outdoor trading spaces.