A Dapto business that has suffered through "two years of hell" has waited for eight weeks for a government payment that was promised in less than 10 business days.
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Mark Horsley, co-owner of Leisure Coast Limousines, said his business applied for the Small Business Support Payment on February 21.
In a media release on February 16 announcing the program, Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Victor Dominello said businesses could expect to receive prompt payment.
"The majority of customers submitting complete and eligible applications can expect to receive payment within five to 10 business days of approval of their application," he said.
Despite confirming with Service NSW that all the information was correctly submitted, as of April 11, Mr Horsley was yet to receive the payment.
As a business in the tourism and travel industry, the past two years have been tough for Leisure Coast Limousines.
"We've had two years of hell, basically no work," Mr Horsley said.
The business has been able to hang in there through government assistance and the personal savings of the owners and Mr Horsley said he was grateful for the assistance received so far.
However, with tourist numbers slow to pick up even as borders reopen, and key markets such as the cruise industry delayed, the promised Small Business Support Payment came at a critical time.
"We budgeted for that money to come to us, based on the promises made by the NSW government," Mr Horsley said.
"I've got suppliers and creditors that I have to pay now and we're chewing through our superannuation.
"I've worked for nearly 40 years, started when I was 14, now coming up to 54 I have no superannuation."
Leisure Coast Limousines is not the only business waiting for the support payment to show up in their bank account.
Wollongong MP Paul Scully said he had been contacted by dozens of businesses since early 2022 experiencing delays with accessing payments through Service NSW.
"The government did make some changes to make it a bit easier, but oftentimes, they seem to get lost in a game of bureaucratic ping pong," he said.
Mr Scully said any other affected businesses could contact him for the matter to be raised.
For Mr Horsley, any confidence he has in the future for his business and others like it is fading.
"There's a light at the end of the tunnel but at the moment the light is flickering,' he said.
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