Balmain Hairdresser slaps $500 on electricity bill as small businesses struggle

• Hair salon owner slaps 500 dollars on a relief on the energy bill
• Claims the relief will last ‘not long’

A hairdresser has slammed a budget handout as inadequate, claiming it will not be enough to keep small businesses afloat amid the cost of living crisis.

Deborah Bradshaw, who runs a salon in Balmain in Sydney‘s inner-west, argued that $500 relief on utility bills simply won’t be enough.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the handout will be a focal point of the budget to be delivered by the Albanian government to parliament on Tuesday.

The 500 dollars comes as the cost of living crisis worsens in the country inflation maximum seven percent

Ms Bradshaw revealed that the cost of running a business had pushed her to the brink and she has even sacrificed her own salary to keep her salon running for 15 years.

“Small business is tough, but at the moment it’s really, really tough,” Bradshaw told Channel Nine’s Today on Tuesday.

‘We have no idea what the next few months will bring.’

Mrs Bradshaw said she managed to keep her business open for the past 15 years and during 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 utility bills becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of.

Host Karl Stefanovic asked how long the proposed $500 utility bill relief would last, prompting Ms Bradshaw to give a straight answer.

“Not long,” she said. ‘The amount of energy it takes to run a hair salon, the amount of energy my restaurant friends use, their output goes to the gas heaters outside.

“We have to keep our customers warm.”

Ms Bradshaw said rent rises for businesses were an added blow.

“Rents are also increasing by 7.8 per cent on commercial properties every year,” she said.

In an effort to help keep her business and staff afloat, Ms Bradshaw has also stopped paying herself a salary.

“For me, my staff is so important, they’re like family and I need those guys there over the next three, six and 12 months,” she 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 relief does not keep pace with rising costs and a decline in retail spending, they will be forced to shut down.

“Even during COVID, you know, I kind of felt like we got some relief and some help,” Bradshaw said.

‘We kind of felt like we were all in it together this time.

‘I haven’t been this worried about mine and all the small businesses around me for a very long time.

‘Seeing businesses closing down, it’s scary.’

Aged pensioners, Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders, small businesses and welfare recipients will be the biggest beneficiaries of the $500 utility bill scheme.

For families, households receiving income support under family tax benefit A and B will also be the target of the distribution.

More than five and a half million households and one million businesses will receive up to $500 in total relief.

‘In most states and territories, retailers will take it off your bill. For most people, it’s in the third quarter of the bill,’ confirmed Dr. Chalmers told News.com.au.

‘This is 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 around the country, we have entered into eight different agreements with different jurisdictions,” added Dr. Chalmers.

Single workers and families earning more than six-figure incomes are the cohorts most likely to miss out on cuts to their bills.

The government has set income limits for families depending on the number of children in a household and their respective ages.

This is determined by whether a household is entitled to family tax benefits.

For families with one child, the cutoff is a total income of more than $108,000.

The threshold is raised slightly to $114,000 for families with two children aged zero to 12 or one child aged zero to 12 and one aged 13-19 in the secondary survey.

The cutoff is $117,000 for families with two children ages 13-19 in secondary examination.

This increases when there are three or more children in a household.

Families with three teenagers in post-secondary education can have a combined income of up to $140,000 before they become ineligible for the distribution.

Households with four children will have a cut-off between $147,000 and $157,000 – depending on the age of the children.

Further details of the edibility criteria for the Government’s power relief handout will be revealed when the Budget is handed down on Tuesday.