Premier Jeremy Rockliff has blamed the Hobart City Council for making life harder for businesses, after seven well-known city venues collapsed.
The Pub Banc venues, including Cargo Bar, Jack Greene, Republic Bar and the Franklin Wharf restaurant and function centre, were placed into voluntary administration on Monday.
More than 80 staff have been stood down while administrators try to sell the businesses.
Administrators have blamed rising costs and falling consumer spending for the closures.
Asked on Tuesday whether local or state government should take some responsibility, Rockliff turned his focus to the council.
“It’s quite clear that the Hobart City Council can do better when it comes to the number of permits and cutting red tape and making it easier when it comes to the hospitality industry, to make life and business a lot easier,” Rockliff said.
“There is no doubt there is a very strong vibe in and around the Hobart city that the Hobart City Council is not a council that values small business, values jobs in the local area.”
Rockliff said hospitality operators worked hard and employed hundreds of Tasmanians and that the council needed to “do far better when it comes to cutting red tape”.
He pointed to the state government’s work on a single permit system, led by Small Business Minister Guy Barnett.
Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds hit back on social media, saying her thoughts were with the workers who had lost their jobs, as well as their families and suppliers.
She welcomed comments from the administrator that significant interest in the businesses was expected.
“What I don’t welcome is Hobart pollies using other people’s misfortune to boost their own profiles,” Reynolds said.
“Hobart deserves representatives that are positive and practical, not those who peddle misinformation and undermine the reputation of the city they’re meant to look after.”
Labor MLC Sarah Lovell said people want to see all levels of government working together.
“It would be really nice if, for once, the premier stops trying to point the finger at other people and actually came up with something constructive,” she said.
“If the premier thinks the Hobart City Council should be doing more, then why is he not sitting down with the Hobart City Council to work that out?”
Alderman Marti Zucco echoed the criticism, saying he believed the closures were not simply the result of tough economic conditions, but years of council policy decisions.
He said the council treated businesses “as a revenue source rather than as partners” and was “far more concerned about pet projects or bikeways that only serve 2% of the population”.
“The closure of seven major Hobart hospitality venues in a single day should serve as a wake-up call to the Hobart City Council and its increasingly anti-business agenda,” he said.
Alderman Louise Bloomfield called the administration a “sobering moment” and pointed to industry-wide pressures instead.
She cited rising wages, insurance and food costs, new payday super rules and changing habits, saying “the domination of Netflix and Uber Eats” had reshaped the city’s nightlife.
“I would like to see the City of Hobart convene a round table with hospitality operators, small business, tourism, events, arts, live music, safety representatives, transport providers and the community,” she said.
“I feel that we need to reach laterally to solve this issue and make headway as soon as we can to ensure that businesses like Pub Banc can stabilise and thrive again.”
