"It doesn't even cover one quarter of our fortnightly payroll": State Government's bushfire grants hardly a relief for Grampians businesses

The state government’s recent grant for Grampians businesses affected by the 2024/25 bushfires is nothing more than a “band-aid solution”, according to a local resident.

The funding for small business and biodiversity was announced in March with a dedicated business bushfire recovery grant program to provide $5,000 to eligible businesses.

But Adrian Manikas, outdoor retailer and Managing Director of tour operator Absolute Outdoors, described the grant is a “band-aid solution”.

“The grant sounds nice but for a business that's been impacted by [the loss of hundreds of thousands] of dollars of revenue, it doesn't even cover one quarter of our fortnightly payroll,” he told the Brolga.

Based in Halls Gap, Manikas’ business was hit hard following the recent fires. Launching a camp about one year ago, he found it difficult sourcing insurers to cover his business in the event of a fire. 

According to Manikas, the majority of insurers in Australia declined to provide a quote. When a policy was sourced from overseas, an extra $12,000 premium was paid on top of the $35,000 policy to cover for business interruption. But it only came into effect if the physical property burnt down. 

“[The recent fires] caused significant business interruption, but weren’t covered under insurance due to this technicality,” Manikas said.

“That's why I'm in this war - the government needs to step in and foot the bill to make sure that small local economies don't collapse and actually fix this insurance issue so it's not a problem in the future.”

Insurance industry response

An Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) spokesperson said the ICA attended a community forum in Halls Gap in January 2025 and heard from local businesses who were experiencing insurance challenges following the bushfires in late 2024, early 2025. 

“The forum, hosted by Dr Anne Webster MP, Member for Mallee, provided valuable insight and fostered important discussion on the local insurance landscape,” said the spokesperson. “Further community engagement is planned for the coming weeks.” 

The spokesperson said the severity and frequency of extreme weather events across Australia was putting upward pressure on premiums. 

“This upward pressure is also being driven by ongoing inflation in the building and motor repair sectors, the jump in reinsurance costs globally and the increasing value of our assets Insurance prices risk, and a higher premium typically indicates higher risk.”

Long-term economic impact

Tourism revenue has also suffered in the wake of the fires. Manikas says the winter months are going to be a big test for local businesses. 

“From that sort of cash flow perspective. They’re going to struggle for sure. We will go into a two or three hundred thousand dollar hole that we can spend the next couple of years climbing out of before we can turn a profit, and hope that another [fire] doesn't happen next year or the year after.”

Local business owners consider leaving region

Carly Flecknoe owns a retail business in Halls Gap. Her family had planned to launch the first bathhouse and spa in Pomonal in a bid to attract more visitors to the region.

But the Flecknoes’ property has both a Vegetation Protection Overlay and a Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO), meaning both the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and the Country Fire Authority needed to sign off on its intended use.

“We had a meeting [with the CFA] in January 2024 and they gave some guidance of things they wanted to be added to our existing plans for us to be able to get approval,” says Flecknoe. 

“When we were able to resubmit with everything they'd asked for, we then got a letter advising they were lodging an official objection for any activity to occur on the property.” 

The Flecknoes are now planning to sell their Halls Gap business and move out of the Grampians.

In a statement, a CFA spokesperson said applications were assessed against the state’s bushfire objectives and requirements of the relevant planning scheme, taking into consideration the bushfire risk and landscape.

Government response

Victorian Minister for Environment & Outdoor Recreation, Steve Dimopoulos, said the grant announcement would help bring visitors back to affected communities. 

“It’s an amazing part of the world and we’ll make sure visitors know it’s back open for business.”

Despite assurances from government officials, local business owners remain sceptical that the measures will be enough to sustain the region's economy through the challenging recovery period ahead.

_{Thumbnail: CFA / Ross Walker}