LOCAL business owners had a chance to discuss how the State Government’s reforms to WorkCover have impacted on their business’s compensation premiums.
The NSW Minister for Finance and Services Andrew Constance and Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams met with members of the Port Macquarie Chamber of Commerce and the NSW Business Chamber to discuss the reforms.
Mr Constance told Hastings business owners that the reforms had freed up businesses to grow and were providing better support for injured workers to help them return safely to work sooner.
Ms Williams said they were delivering a fairer system, with more generous payments being provided to severely injured workers.
“It means Port Macquarie employers have benefited from an average premium rate reduction of 11.96 per cent in the past 12 months,” she said.
“This reduction will apply to industries such as farming, manufacturing and hospitality spread across metropolitan and regional NSW.
“I meet regularly with many employers as well as with the Port Macquarie Chamber of Commerce and the message I am getting is that there is a return of confidence in the business sector and that the changes to WorkCover are having a positive impact of business.
“It is important that Minister Constance had the opportunity to hear for himself what our local business community has to say and identify ways that government can continue to help business.
“I appreciate Minister Constance has taken the time to visit the Port Macquarie electorate once again and he is just the first of many ministers we will see in the electorate over the next couple of months.”
