Football public holiday could cost Aust'n state 750 million US dollars: business

A public holiday for one of Victoria's biggest sporting events could cost the state's economy up to 760 million US dollars, business groups have warned.

Victoria's Premier, Daniel Andrews, has set aside a public holiday for this Friday, the day before the Australian Football League (AFL) Grand Final, as he did last year.

Despite the day being declared a success in 2015, small business owners have continued to warn that the holiday could be crippling for their companies.

James Thompson, CEO of Hazeldene's Chicken, said the holiday would add 148,000 US dollars to the company's wage bill due to Victorian employees being paid double time and a half.

"We operate on a national scale so any impact that one state does against others puts us at a disadvantage," Thompson told News Limited on Tuesday.

"We are trying to dip our toe into a global market through exports and that just puts additional costs on to our production, which makes us less competitive.

"Costs such as additional public holidays only serve to put additional financial stress on business, which ultimately leads to the loss of jobs."

A study by consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that lost production from the holiday would account for between 546 million and 684 million US dollars in addition to up to 217 million US dollars lost in additional wage costs.

In research published on Monday, the Australian Industry Research Group (Ai Group) found that 61 per cent of 80 businesses surveyed would close on Friday and would suffer an average income loss of 12,000 US dollars.

The Ai Group study forecast a smaller economic loss than 2015 when 85 per cent of businesses closed and had an average loss of 43,000 US dollars.

"Some companies have decided they simply have no choice but to open, often because of national responsibilities or the need to keep faith with customers," Tim Piper, Victorian head of the Ai Group, said.

"They will need to pay huge penalty rates ... as the consequences of closing are simply too great."

A spokesperson for Andrews said critics "won't be happy until all public holidays were scrapped."

"Grand Final Friday is here to stay because it allows hard-working Victorians to spend more time with their loved ones," the spokesperson said.

"Last year's holiday was an overwhelming success."

Source : XINHUA