A recent pledge by the Western Australia (WA) Government to provide lockdown assistance payouts to small businesses has left industry stunned after those signing up to the scheme discovered it would not, in fact, be granted to low-earning small businesses. The state’s snap 4-day lockdown following the discovery of three cases of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus last month drained $245 million out of the state, with almost one in ten small businesses in the region forced to close their doors for good. The state’s peak industry association, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA (CCIWA), expressed a bittersweet welcoming to the $3,000 “Small Business Lockdown Assistance Grants,” which it helped lobby for. CCIWA said they were disappointed that WA’s smallest and most vulnerable businesses—those earning less than $75,000 (US$55,000) per year—would not actually benefit from the program. The industry body was also concerned that the only businesses eligible …