- The Secure Communities Partnership Program will fund safety measures to deter crime on small businesses.
- Grants can fund CCTV, safety lighting or alarm systems to prevent crime and minimise compounding costs of crime.
- Two-year program with four $10 million grants rounds.
The LNP has announced a new grants package to support businesses, in partnership with local councils and chambers of commerce, to bolster safety and reduce crime in their communities.
The $40 million Secure Communities Partnership Program will fund critical safety measures to deter crime from shopping precincts and commercial zones, including CCTV, safety lighting and alarm systems.
The crime prevention grants are part of the LNP’s Making our Community Safer Plan to restore safety where you live, which also includes Adult Crime, Adult Time and Gold Standard Early Intervention.
Labor’s Crime Crisis is costing businesses tens of thousands of dollars each year and forcing many small and family businesses to close as they’re unable to recover from the thousands of dollars in skyrocketing insurance and repairs.
Small businesses have been hit hard by Labor’s Crime Crisis, with a 133% increase in shop break-ins since Labor came to power, and insurance costs in Queensland rose by 14.2% last year alone, with youth crime a major cause.
LNP Leader David Crisafulli said the LNP’s Secure Communities Partnership Program would help drive-down the cost of crime for small and family businesses.
“The LNP’s Secure Communities Partnerships Program will help stop crime before it happens, reducing the cost of crime on small businesses and local government,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“We’ll give businesses a big boost to bolster safety and deter crime with funding for CCTV, lighting upgrades and alarms to help restore safety where you live.
“The cost of crime is not only replacing what’s stolen, it’s also the thousands of dollars in repairs, the increased insurance price and the lost turnover while a business is closed.
“With costs rising across the board, too many businesses are operating week to week and don’t have extra cash to pay for crime prevention – let alone the cost of break-ins.”
Shadow Minister for Small and Family Business Brent Mickelberg said the LNP’s plan would reduce the impact of crime on small business.
“Businesses should not need to make the tough decision to close their doors because youth crime has made it too expensive to operate,” Mr Mickelberg said
“The LNP’s Secure Communities Partnerships Program will give businesses peace of mind and allow them to get back to doing what they do best – creating jobs and running their business.
“A decade of Labor has left Queensland small businesses struggling under rising costs and falling margins, without support and without a place to turn.
“Nothing will change unless we change the government next month, our state needs a fresh start and the LNP has the Right Plan for Queensland’s Future.
“The LNP’s Making Our Community Safer to restore safety where you live.”