State government slammed for ‘lazy, sloppy’ COVID-safe plan robocalls

The Andrews Government has been criticised for its “lazy, sloppy” robocall service to check if businesses have a COVID-safe plan in place.

Business Victoria has made more than 100,000 automated calls, but many business owners who received the call hung up because they thought it was a scam.

Small business owner, Lisa, told Neil Mitchell she received two calls within an hour, but she hung up.

“I just thought, ‘Oh, look, this is a scam’,” she said.

“Other than that (call) I’ve had no information whatsoever.”

CEO of the Council of Small Business Organisations, Peter Strong, slammed the state government’s cold call strategy.

“It’s lazy, it’s sloppy, and worse than that it seems to be that what the government or someone is doing is saying ‘How do we make sure we cover our backsides here in case there’s a third wave?’,” he told Neil Mitchell.

“That seems to be what’s driving this.”

Mr Strong said business and industry leaders have not been properly consulted, and Victoria should follow the the path taken by New South Wales.

“The Premier’s got to learn, and the Premier’s office, and some senior public servants, that they’ve got to consult. NSW consulted, they found out about the QR codes,” he said.

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