Letter to the Editor

Adding together the salaries on offer for full-time staff plus the casuals working 20 hours per week with a casual loading of 25 per cent, I came to a figure of $511,000 per annum.

On costs for WorkCover and superannuation etc would add at least 15 per cent to that figure. This requires a profit of well over $10,000 a week just to service the wages.

I’m assuming ratepayers will also fund the bills for power, gas and other utilities that small businesses usually have to cover; and who will be responsible for the cost of café equipment setup and consumables? As a ratepayer paying some of the highest rates in the state I take issue with what I believe to be a completely inappropriate approach to establishing cafe services at SAM.

To do so at a time of when the entire local hospitality industry is in crisis because of COVID is totally unfair. At a time like this council must not enter into flagrantly wasteful exercises using ratepayers' funds to set up something that is clearly not a business proposition in the present climate.

Council has other options including concessional leasing arrangements that could attract commercial operators who would establish a business that is a self-sustaining employer and pays a commercial rent, rather than being a net drain on our rate base.